Chaos Riders
by Dark-Illusion-Detective
Summary: Sometimes something as innocent and simple as a promise can lead to something unexpected and dangerous.
1. Babylon Rogues' Match

**Chaos Riders**

Hey guys! Here's the story that I promised I would put up. Luckily I've found a way to get pass my cousin's plots to delaying me from updating on time. But if I wrote down how, then my cousin would find out and then my stories would be in jeporady again. So... I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and please tell me what you guys think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters, especially not the Babylon Rogues, nor does she own Sega. She does own Aerial the Hawk and Beacon (aka Pride) the Sparrow.

Hope you guys like it!

* * *

**Chapter One: Babylon Rogues' Match**

_Click... Click... Click..._

The sound of the remote changing the channels on the TV would've usually bugged Wave beyond belief, but Jet was lucky. He was sitting in his office watching anything that sparked the hawk's interest; that was where he was unlucky. Nothing eye catching was on.

Jet sighed boredly and after turning the TV off, he carelessly tossed the remote onto his desk. He glanced around his office to see the same thing he'd been seeing for the past three days; dark storm clouds that spilled the rain onto the windows, and flashes of lightning. This made Jet's office unusually darker than usual, but at least the weather didn't chase away his daily ambitions to finding something to steal.

A set of heavy footsteps became louder and louder, and Jet knew exactly who they belonged to. The door flew open to reveal Storm the Albatross.

"B-Boss!"

Jet flinched at the slightly-too-loud tone Storm spoke in, and the green hawk could've sworn he heard Wave shout from her room to keep it down.

"Yes Storm?"

Storm placed his radio on the desk and turned it up.

"Listen to this!"

"Shut up! And turn that radio down!" Wave shouted from her room.

Jet was about to turn the radio down himself until he realized why the volume was so high; you couldn't hear the people talking, but you could definately hear the music. But he ignored the music, despite its catchy tune, and focused on the words.

"We're on the scene of the Station Square Museum, where a new exhibit has been presented called the Disaster Realm. According to the manager of this museum, this was introduced when an item now known as the Disaster Diamond was brought in by a little kid of eleven."

The radio suddenly shut off and the duo looked at the person responsible only to run away in fear as Wave the Swallow chased after them with a wrench and screwdriver.

**--- Station Square ---**

Even in this place it was still raining and thundering; which Storm and Jet didn't mind too much but Wave couldn't stand it. First it was the radio that was turned up too high and now it was the rain they have been seeing for the past three days! What was worse was they were splitting up.

"Jet, why exactly are we splitting up again?"

"Simple, if we split up then we'll find the Disaster whatever thing quicker," Jet explained as though he knew everything.

Storm followed behind them quietly, which was even new for them. Usually he would be stuttering about how he was ready to do this, but this time around he didn't.

"Storm. Are you ready?"

The albatross instantly perked up and nodded, "y-yes I am!"

"Keep it down, the security cameras will pick up our voices."

Jet's blue eyes shinned with excitement as he remarked, "this is going to be too easy. Alright, on three we'll split up, that way the security robots will be too busy going only after two of us."

"What makes you think it'll be just two of us?"

"Because Storm and you will be going too slow while I'll be going as fast as the speed of sound."

Wave seemed to shake her head in disproval but she didn't say anything, neither did Storm. Then again, Wave would side with anyone who said that Storm's extreme gear skills sucked.

The trio backed up a little and as they ran toward the museum, they jumped onto their extreme gears. As they sped faster and faster, Jet counted off, "One, Two... THREE!"

And just like Jet's plan, they split up in different directions and alarms began wailing throughout the nearby streets. As the glass doors shattered into pieces, two shadows swiftly followed Jet's path with ease, careful to not be noticed.

**--- About Five Minutes Later ---**

The museum was massive, that was one of the things that Jet never realized until he came into the room with the precious Disaster Diamond. The room itself was pretty large, considering it had a large exhibit on what Chao were, what and where Chaos came from, and in the middle of the room was the Disaster Diamond in a small glass case that would've been over looked by Jet if he hadn't noticed that it was the smallest thing out of the room.

Jet got off his extreme gear and he walked past the Chao exhibits toward the Disaster Diamond. The hawk smirked cockily and he whispered, "too easy."

He took out a pen and began to create a hole in it thanks to a built in laser, courtesy of Wave. The piece of glass he had drawn out, fell to the ground with a small crackling sound that was easy to ignore.

But just as Jet was about to reach in to case to take his prize a voice stopped him.

"Jet the Hawk?"

Jet stopped and looked behind him to see two figures.

"So it really is you. No smoke and mirrors, or should I say no holograms," the girl of the duo said with a bit of hatred embedded into her voice.

"What are you talking about?"

The girl scoffed and clapped her hands. The lights flickered on and Jet jumped back in surprise.

The figures were both birds of some kind. The guy of the group, a Sparrow, was honey colored with emerald eyes. He wore a dark hoodie and baggy jeans that seemed to give him the appearance of someone who liked to fight. His hair style proved that theory to be correct and the glint in his eyes seemed to be asking Jet silently if he wanted to fight.

It wasn't the sparrow that made him jump back; it was the girl. The girl was a hawk that was a fierce emerald color that resembled Jet's feather color and she had blue-green eyes that were shinning with betrayal and determination. She wore a pair of black jeans that were ripped and a red hoodie with black flames on the sleeves and the hood.

"Who are you?"

The hawk didn't seem impressed at all and that was obvious as she glared at him.

"How did you get here so quickly? Are you the security guards or what?"

"Please. Would security guards dress to casually?" the sparrow asked as he began to clench and unclench his fists rapidly as though he really was asking for a fight.

"Extreme Skates. Now out of our way."

Jet glared as he replied, "over my dead body. This is my mission. Stay out of it."

"You've got it wrong," the hawk muttered as Jet turned his back on them. "Pride. You know what to do."

"You sure?"

"Definately."

Jet grabbed the diamond and turned around to see Pride the sparrow pointing a spear like object at him.

"Hand over the Disaster Diamond and we won't be forced to harm you in any way," Pride threatened as he took a step toward Jet.

Jet quickly got on his extreme gear and started to ride away, soon the hawk and sparrow were out of sight. He smirked and laughed, "what a bluff!"

The exit was only a couple more minutes away and Jet held the diamond tightly. The diamond glowed in a soft pink glow, and Jet felt the small amount of light illuminate his way to the exit. Jet almost forgot about the duo he met until a sudden burst of energy grazed his cheek. He looked behind him to see Pride coming closer and closer to Jet, the spear-like object in his hands and it was glowing with the same kind of glow the diamond was.

"We warned ya! Now get ready to be destroyed! You said 'dead body' right?"

Jet blinked in slight surprise, he had to admit, something was up. Where was the hawk from before? Where did she go?

"JET!"

Wave and Storm suddenly appeared in sight and they caught up with Jet with ease. And Jet was glad to see them. But that was short lived as the lasers kept getting fired toward the trio.

"What's going on?"

"Some hawk and sparrow appeared out of nowhere and is trying to get the diamond."

Wave looked at Storm then at Jet, "Hand it over to Storm."

Jet glanced at Storm and tossed the diamond. Storm caught it gracefully and they split up in the split in the hall. Wave went right, Jet went in the middle and Storm went left.

Pride stopped momentarily before he rode through the middle path. The hawk from before instantly went left and a devious glint was visible in her eyes.

**--- Four Minutes Later ---**

The fresh air outside of the museum felt great, despite the rain and roar of thunder, as Storm stopped in the bushes and waited for Wave and Jet to come out. He held the diamond in his tight grip and he sighed with relief that he didn't lose it on his way out. The albatross was about to go back to the airship until a voice caught his attention.

"Storm! Glad you made it out!"

Storm turned and saw the girl standing with a curious look on her face. The albatross got on his extreme gear quickly but before he could escape, the hawk was in his path, and he fell off his gear out of surprise.

"Don't leave okay? I'm going to have to take that diamond from you. It's important to me."

"Wh-Who are you?"

"The name's Aerial. Now hand the Disaster Diamond over and I won't be forced to hurt you in any way."

He looked at Aerial and noticed that she looked a lot like Jet. But there was something about her, not appearance wise, that sent of alarms in his mind.

Storm didn't reply and Aerial didn't say anything more as she took out needles. His eyes widened as she got in a threatening position.

"Hand it over alba. You owe me that much."

The albatross stopped for a moment as he recalled being called alba by a few people. Jet, Wave at one point in time... even... by her. But he hadn't seen her in ages.

"You can't be her..."

"Glad you remember me. Hand it over."

Storm was in shock. He thought she was dead. Long deceased, but... she wasn't. He had to get away and tell Jet and Wave! This was big! He yelped though as several needles pierced his hand and he dropped the diamond. Aerial picked it up and she glared at Storm. The glare froze Storm's thoughts of even telling his partners.

"I am a Chaos Rider. And you're our opponents. Stand in our way and you can bet your leader's life that we will destroy you and everything you stand for," Aerial snarled out, hatefully.

Aerial turned around and Pride suddenly appeared smirking.

"They shouldn't bug us for a while."

Storm's anger rose, "what di-did you d-do t-to Jet and W-Wave?!"

"You can find out for yourself alba. For now, Pride, send word that we've succeeded."

Pride nodded as he rode off into the outskirts of Station Square. Storm looked at Aerial who seemed slightly disappointed.

"Here I thought I'd be able to talk to him again... oh well. He'll be glad to know that he's no longer a disappointment to his father anymore, but is now a disappointment to me. So long alba! Catch ya later!"

Aerial rode off almost the same time Storm darted into the museum. He ran and ran for what seemed like minutes until he saw Wave and Jet... hanging upside down and covered in a pink substance that seemed like bubble gum.

"Storm. Get us down... so I can destroy that son of a-"

Storm knocked Wave out and grinned that she wasn't going to hit him. Jet seemed slightly angry as he questioned, "so where's the diamond? Back at the airship right?"

"Jet. We need to talk," Storm quickly replied as he started to get Jet and the unconscious Wave out of the sticky goo. When they finally got down they barely avoided the police and swiftly made it back to the airship and took off before anyone would realize it was the Babylon Rogues that had done this.

**---**

**Blah. Here's the beginning to Aerial's story. Sorry it's sort of short and unorganized, I was sort of hanging for a while over what should happen and stuff. So I tried to make it seem possible for this to happen. Probably wouldn't though. (Shrugs) But I tried. That's all that matters. By the way this is my... second time trying to play as the Babylon Rogues so please don't be so harsh. I tried... anyways, I hope you guys will tell me what I can improve on. Thanks for reading.**


	2. My Best Friend Alba

Hey guys! Okay, so this chapter took a while for me to think of what would happen next, but I think I got it all sorted out... I hope so anyways. Besides the point, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and please tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters (Especially not the Babylon Rogues), nor does she own Sega. She does own her OCs, Aerial the Hawk, Beacon (Pride) the Sparrow, Jack the Sparrow/Crow Hybrid, and Flame the Swallow.

Here we go!

* * *

**Chapter Two: My Best Friend Alba**

It seemed like an eternity of silence had passed between the trio as they sat around Jet's desk and went over what exactly Storm had heard from Aerial. Their facial expressions were all different; Wave's was confused, Jet's was pure jealousy and rage, while Storm's was a look of sadness. They all felt something different and no one really knew what to say to the other person.

"I can't believe it. She's alive."

Wave suddenly asked, "who is Aerial?! I never heard of her before."

"She's-"

"Jet's half sister," Storm muttered before Jet could exclaim his answer. Jet looked at Storm who looked down at his feet; that was new to Jet since Storm never really got that sad over something like this.

"You have a half sister?"

"I blame dad for it. But yes... Aerial is my half sister."

Wave crossed her arms.

"How come you guys never said anything about her?"

"Because she was pronounced dead the moment she fell out of the airship."

The albatross suddenly darted out of the room, and Wave and Jet could only listen as the footsteps became softer and softer. Then the door to Storm's room slammed shut, and that's when Jet sighed and sat down in his usual chair.

Wave's blue eyes were locked onto the hawk and she just kept staring until Jet looked up.

"I'll explain it later. For now, try and see if you can find anymore information on the Disaster Diamond. Maybe it'll give us a link to why Aerial would want it."

The purple swallow didn't move from her spot. Jet got up and questioned, "what?!"

"Pronounced dead?"

Jet suddenly sat in his chair and spun it so his back faced her and he was looking out the window, "just leave it for now. Storm knows more about her than I do. He was there. Just... just leave it for now. We'll explain it some other time."

That normally wouldn't have been enough to satisfy Wave's craving for knowledge, but apparently it was since she sighed disappointedly and walked out of the office.

As Wave walked past Storm's room, she noticed that the door was opened slightly. A voice told her to see if Storm was okay, while another one said leave him alone... but the first one seemed fine, but too strange for her character. So how did she adjust it so it'd be like normal? She peeked through the crack and watched as Storm was digging through old boxes under his bed. This moment kept playing and playing until he took out a picture and put it on his nightstand. Then the albatross' eyes locked onto Wave's blue eye that peeked at him, then just like that the door was slammed completely shut.

"Grr! STORM!! YOU'RE BEING SO IMMATURE!! JUST TELL ME WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!" Wave shouted in her outburst of anger. She hated not knowing what was going on.

To Wave's surprise though, Storm opened the door and pulled her in and slammed the door shut. The albatross sat on his bed and she tilted her head as she looked at the picture on his nightstand.

It was a picture of Aerial only a lot younger and smaller than she had been when Storm last saw her, and beside her holding her hand was Storm. He was actually only a foot or two taller than Aerial but the blush on his face was priceless. Wave smiled and was about to remark on the picture until Storm shot Wave a look.

"So you want to know?"

"Heck yeah."

Storm picked up the picture and he began explaining.

**--- Flashback: Six Years Earlier ---**

_A glint of happiness entered Jet's eyes as he ran down the narrow hallways of his father's airship. It was massive and Jet loved every moment of being there; as he ran into the office and jumped into the chair that made him seem like a baby in a computer chair, Storm followed quietly and nervously._

_"A-Are y-you sure w-w-we're suppose t-to b-be here?" the thirteen year old albatross asked as he looked around._

_"It's fine! Don't be such a chicken!"_

_Storm walked in and he looked amazed by how much Jet seemed like a leader in the chair. Jet stood up and he cheered happily, then again the eight year old was happy about being here anyways. Nothing could ruin his moment right now._

_Footsteps were heard and suddenly Jet shouted, "HIDE!"_

_The green hawk hid under the desk while Storm looked around; thanks to him being big, there really was no place he could fit into. He ran toward the chair and tripped, causing a huge crash and the chair falling on top of him. The door to the office opened and a small voice rang in Storm's head._

_"So this is where you work dad?"_

_"Yep. I want you to stay here for now, I'll be back and I'll take you to mom okay?"_

_"Yes sir!" _

_The footsteps soon left Storm's hearing and he was surprised that he wasn't met with yelling or anything. Instead he was greeted with a question._

_"Are you okay?"_

_Storm looked up to see a green hawk like Jet, only she wore a red and black hoodie that was obviously too big on her, and she had large blue-green eyes. He stood up quickly and nearly tripped over his feet trying to stay up._

_"I'm alright Jet."_

_"Jet? Who's that? I'm Aerial."_

_Storm felt like an idiot, how could he mistake her as a guy? He shook his head and he stuttered, "s-s-s-sorry m-miss."_

_Aerial was about to say something until Jet squealed in surprise._

_"COPY HAWK!" Jet shouted angrily as he pointed an accusing finger at Aerial._

_She frowned as she held up a hand that was covered by the large sleeve of her hoodie. She then replied, "it's a sign of flattery to copy someone's appearance and habits. Y-you shouldn't be mad at me."_

_"Yes I should! I know that you didn't dye your feathers like that to copy me!"_

_Aerial put her hands on her hips and stuck out her tongue, "meanie!"_

_"I am not!"_

_"You are so! Right?"_

_The duo hawks turned to Storm who was just confused on which hawk was which since they looked almost like twins. Storm seemed nervous about making either of them mad, so he did the first thing that came into mind... he turned to leave, and with Storm's luck, he tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his face. Jet, of course, laughed._

_A hand helped Storm up and he saw that it was Aerial that did that._

_"So what's your name?"_

_"I'm Jet and this is Storm."_

_Aerial tilted her head as she studied Storm and she squealed out, "ALBA!"_

_"Al...ba?"_

_"Alba! What do you think Jet?"_

_"Sounds..." Jet blinked, "am I suppose to say that actually doesn't sound all too bad?"_

_Aerial nodded and her hopeful eyes looked at Storm._

_"I'll stop calling you that if you want me to..."_

_"N-no. I-it's fine. You can c-call me Alba."_

_Aerial hugged Storm and Jet and she cheered, "thank you! You two are my new best friends! Jet and Alba, my two new best friends!"_

_And that was only the beginning of what would be some of the strange things to happen when they were together._

**--- End of Flash Back ---**

"So Aerial was the person that gave you Alba as a nickname. I was curious as to where that started when Jet started to call you that," Wave remarked as she was sitting on Storm's bed as the albatross paced around his room with the picture.

"That's right."

Wave seemed thoughtful for only a few seconds before questioning, "but that doesn't explain what happened to her."

Storm was about to say something to get Wave off his back until Jet ran into the room.

"You have to see this! Now!"

The trio ran back into the office where a screen appeared on the office wall and showed a little kid. He had gold feathers that went down the middle of his head while black tuffs of feathers were around the gold feathers. The kid had bright blue eyes that shinned with innocence as he waved.

"HI!! This is Jack coming at ya!"

"What... the... hell?" Wave and Storm asked at the same time as Jet made a motion to shut up.

"Hehehe! Man, she told me that you guys were idiots but I didn't think your security system on your computer would be so out dated!"

"What was that punk?"

The kid stopped and he smirked, "you must be the smart one since you were the first one to react."

Wave glared as the kid then cleared his throat.

"Friends, anthros, fellow avions, lend me your ears-"

"Save the Julius Caesar crap for some other time!" Jet snarled out in annoyance, "just tell us what the heck you want."

Jack frowned as he shook his head and replied, "fine... meanie!"

No one said anything until Jack sighed.

"Aerial says she wants to meet you guys. To talk."

"And if we don't go?"

A metallic orange swallow appeared and responded by saying, "Then I'll be sure to barbeque you guys after I hunt you down."

Jack frowned, "Flame get out of here!"

"Can't make me squirt."

"I'm telling Aerial!"

"AERIAL!! JACK'S BEING A BRAT!!"

The video ended right at that moment and Jet couldn't help but snicker a little and Wave sighed with slight annoyance. Storm however reacted differently.

"A-Are w-we going J-Jet?"

Jet smirked, "I don't know, do you want to go and see Aerial?"

Storm nodded hopefully and Jet rolled his eyes as he said, "it's only for a day. Okay?"

Storm seemed overjoyed as he darted to his room and cheered loudly. Wave blinked as she glanced at Jet.

"He likes her doesn't he?"

"Aerial was his best friend... why wouldn't he be happy?"

Wave glanced down the hall and saw Storm carrying his extreme gear and a bag that seemed prepared for a week's stay.

"R-ready when y-you guys a-are."

Jet blinked and said, "Hey Storm old pal... give us a few hours to pack."

Storm sat down and smiled, "I can wait."

**---**

**Finally the next chapter to Chaos Riders is done. Ugh, let me tell you it's not easy to take in account to how old Jet and Storm are six years in the past. It should be easy math... if you know how old the Babylon Rogue members are... I just found out. (Sighs) Oh well I got it done and my cousin didn't erase it! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it and tell me what you guys think of it.**


	3. Some Things Never Change

Hey guys! Thank Chaos that ideas started to flow through my brain again rather than them being on standby as my mind tried to put my ideas in order. Naps were a life savior when I was writing this since most of my good ideas came to me in my dreams. As usual, I hope you guys like the chapter and please tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does own her OCs, Aerial the Hawk, Beacon(Pride) the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, and Jack the Sparrow/Crow Hybrid.

Here we go.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Some Things Never Change**

"So is this the place?" Wave asked as the Babylon Rogues stood in front of the Chaos Riders' Airship that was in the outskirts of Westopolis.

It seemed like a way too perfect day for such a strange meeting; the sky was clear, the scenery seemed all wrong since it was full of trees and there even was a lake nearby. Jet was in a black jacket and he held a slightly annoyed expression; after all, when all you hear is Storm and Wave bickering about Storm's extreme gear skill, it gets annoying after a while and wears you down.

"Yep. This is it."

Storm seemed occupied in finding a long lost thought that probably was important. The albatross didn't bother wearing a jacket since it was a nice day, but at least he could tell Aerial and Jet apart now since they were wearing different things... erm, hopefully.

"Mobius to Storm. Storm!"

Storm didn't reply as he stared off into space. Wave smirked as she shrieked, "ALBA!!"

That did it. The albatross jumped and accidently fell to the ground.

"W-W-What was th-that f-for?!"

"You didn't reply and so we got worried."

"R-really?"

Wave rolled her eyes as she helped Storm up to his feet, "anyways, what were you thinking about?"

"... What do we s-say to the person we thought was d-dead?"

Silence fell over the trio as they looked at each other for the answer. Unfortunately no one voiced their idea and their voices seemed to disappear into space as they shifted uncomfortably on their feet.

"Erm..."

Suddenly the door opened and a black and yellow avion stood in the door way.

"About time you got here!"

"You're-"

"I'm Jack! You probably remember me from the video message," he replied happily as he looked up at Storm. "Whoa... Ace wasn't kidding when she was telling us about you. You are huge!"

Storm seemed confused, "Um... th-thanks?"

Jack then grabbed Wave and Jet's hand and began to drag the duo in, "come on! Ace wants to see you guys! It's really important too!"

Storm followed and he looked around the hallways of the airship to come to the realization that it looked a lot liked the one he travelled when he first met Aerial.

**--- Flashback: Six Years Earlier ---**

Storm walked down the narrow hallway with a sad look etched on his face; his head was bowed and his glance was only glued onto the floor. He could still feel the shouts echo in his mind and he could feel the pain from the punch to his face. He definately didn't want to see Jet now, especially when he had no idea what to say to him. Maybe that's what led to him avoiding anyone he could.

As he turned the corner, he bumped into someone who yelped as she fell to the ground. His glance only lifted slightly to reveal that the person he knocked over was Aerial the Hawk.

"S-S-S-Sorry!"

"Alba! I wasn't paying attention... um... what happened? I mean that red mark on your-"

"I don't want to talk about it," Storm quickly said as he knew that a problem to a thirteen year old wouldn't seem like a huge problem to an eight year old. He was about to run until Aerial took his hand.

"Alba... you have to tell me!"

"No. Now let me g-go!"

Aerial's grip didn't loosen as she held on as Storm started to walk away, or at least try to.

"Aerial!"

"Gotta tell me or else I won't let go... besides, I haven't seen you since last week!"

Storm actually felt angry that Aerial wouldn't leave him alone. It was the kind of vibe people get when older siblings don't get along with their younger siblings. He pushed Aerial away, but her grip didn't release.

"I said l-leave m-me-"

"Calm down Alba. It's no big de-"

"MY DAD HIT ME! HOW IS THAT NOT A BIG DEAL!?" Storm yelled. He was surprised that his voice boomed as loud as it did, and he was even more surprised that he yelled that.

He didn't feel the grip loosen on his hand at all, but felt a quiver instead. Storm saw Aerial was the one quivering and her eyes were filled with fresh tears.

"I-I-"

"... Alba..."

Aerial sounded so sad, so down that it almost tore Storm's heart hearing her talk. He felt bad for yelling at her and he was about to apologize when Aerial put her other hand on Storm's hand and tugged.

"Come on!"

"Huh?"

"Alba, you're not going to feel better by being all morbid! You've gotta do something fun! Then you'll feel better about it," Aerial said childishly.

"U-Uhm... Thanks for th-the concern b-but-"

"No buts! We're going to have ice cream and talk about what happened."

Storm couldn't start his protests as Aerial dragged Storm toward the kitchen in the airship. He noticed that Aerial had to use two hands to drag him and he felt kinda better already just by having someone care enough to treat him to ice cream. But what his father said made him feel worse at that moment.

Unlike the hallways which were narrow and not roomy, the kitchen was massive and very spacious. Aerial let her grip go and smiled at Storm.

"Alba! Take a seat and I'll be right with you!"

Storm watched as Aerial giggled and ran toward the freezer. He sighed as he sat down at the table and he began wondering how Aerial seemed so sad then suddenly she seemed very happy-go-lucky. He rubbed the red spot on his face and he felt ashamed that it was visible. But the shame faded as soon as Aerial came back with two bowls of ice cream.

"Here you go!"

Storm looked at the ice cream which he was glad was just vanilla rather than Aerial's usual blend of two ice creams. He smiled as he took a spoonful of ice cream and savored the taste as Aerial took a seat next to him.

"Th-Thanks A-Aerial."

"No problem... um... I know it's not my business budding into your personal life, but why did your daddy hit you?"

"It was just an argument."

"Over?"

"... The fact I wasn't spending enough time with Jet to actually get close to him."

Aerial looked confused as Storm explained, "you see... my dad has h-high hopes of m-me being with the Legendary Theif's son and making the Babylon Rogues the best. S-Since I haven't spent enough t-time with J-Jet... well..."

"He was scared that you wouldn't be accepted by Jet to form the Babylon Rogues," she finished for Storm. "Alba, I wouldn't let your daddy get to you."

"Y-you wouldn't?"

"No way! Your daddy only wants what's best for you, even if he does hit you if you don't do as he says. My daddy hits me a lot."

Storm felt his reassurance die as he heard that coming from her, "you get h-hit?"

"Uh huh, daddy thinks that I'm worthless and that I need to find a purpose. Perhaps join the Babylon Rogues..."

"Are you going to?"

"I... I don't know... I guess we'll see. Besides, we've got a whole year to decide that. And that's plenty of time for Jet and you to be best friends. So don't worry when your daddy hits you. Just remember he does it because he loves you very much."

The albatross blinked; he never expected to get advice from an eight year old and actually admit in his mind that she was right. But why hadn't he seen her with red marks on her face or anywhere else? Why hadn't he realized that she did get hit? He shook the guilt out of his head, there was no sense in asking her about it. He didn't want her to sound all sad and depressed like she did when he yelled at her.

"Thanks..."

"Alba!"

"Wh-what?!"

Aerial smiled as she asked, "we'll be friends forever right?"

Storm nodded without a moment of hesitation.

"Good. I don't think life would be very interesting if we weren't friends."

And that was how Storm found out one of the few dark secrets that Aerial hid away from everyone... well, except for him.

**--- End of Flashback ---**

The Babylon Rogues were still being led toward Aerial's office and the hallways just brought Storm back to a time and place where he and Aerial were good friends. He just hoped that it was still that way. Jet and Wave were talking to Jack who seemed interested in the Babylon Rogues more than he showed. Jack stopped in front of a door and smiled.

"Here we are."

Jack knocked on the door, "Ace! They're here!"

The trio looked at each other, but only nervous glances were exchanged between them. What would be the first thing to fly out of Aerial's mouth? What would they say?? Only the first question would be answered as the door opened to reveal Aerial's green feathers tied back into a pony tail and her blue-green eyes staring at them with happiness.

"ALBA!" she cheered as she literally jumped out of the room and hugged Storm. "Oh my chaos! You got even bigger!"

Storm chuckled as he patted Aerial on the head.

"Looks like you got a nickname after all."

Aerial smirked at Jet, "you bet I did! Aerial Ace is the name, but you guys can call me whatever you want..."

Her eyes met with Wave who blinked with a large amount of confusion that normally wouldn't belong to her but to Storm.

"A new face! Hey! What's your name?"

"Wave the swallow," Wave replied as Aerial shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you. Jet you're a very lucky anthro."

Jet whacked Aerial over the head, "we're not together you idiot!"

"Sure you aren't. Come on into my office guys and we'll start talking. I missed you guys so much."

Jet and Wave walked into the office and Jack just simply walked away, obviously not wanting to spend his day listening to the good ol' days. Storm glanced at Aerial who looked at him with the same happy look that she had six years ago. He smiled as he was dragged into the room by Aerial who was starting to go into chatter box mode.

Yep, some things never change... but what the Babylon Rogues hadn't realized was that even though some things remained the same, something did change... what was it though? Only time would tell.

**---**

**Hey guys! Fifth time writing this chapter and I finally got it done. Some strange virus erased my story but I think I finally got it out of the computer for a while. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I know it was interesting for me writing this. Tell me what you guys think, I would love to hear your opinions on this.**


	4. Caught in the Air

Hey guys! Okay, I think I'm finally back on a roll since I wrote this all in about an hour and a half. This chapter was a bit harder to think of since I was thinking about what kind of person Aerial is and what could happen to her. Well I hope you guys like this chapter and please tell me if you guys like it.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does own her OCs, Aerial the Hawk, Beacon (Pride) the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, and Jack the Crow/Sparrow Hybrid.

I present this chapter!

* * *

**Chapter Four: Caught In The Air**

If Storm had to list off all the places that made him feel like home, the only place that really caught the picture of it perfectly was Aerial's office. The office windows were wide open, letting in the golden light of the sun and the sight of the clear blue sky made Storm feel happy, but even with this warm and welcoming aura in the room, he knew it was only temporary. It was only for a day that he'd get to fall into the realm of his past; into the savoring bliss of what it was like when he was thirteen.

What made this feel right was when Aerial and Jet were bickering over who was winning at Super Smash Bros Brawl. Storm decided to sit out on the game and just watch as Wave forced herself to enter and show who was boss. Of course, even Wave has a few flaws.

"Jet... I'm winning," Aerial said happily as she held the gamecube controller in her hands as though it was a life line.

The green hawk that sat next to Aerial glared at her.

"Shut up."

"Oh, I'm sorry Wave... Waaave-"

"Tell me you're winning and I'll make sure you don't regain consciousness for a long time," the purple swallow remarked angrily.

Aerial smiled victoriously as the announcer's voice was heard shouting, "GAME!"

There was a pause before Jet and Wave growled with anger and Aerial jumped on her computer chair and held the gamecube controller in her hand.

"OH YEAH! Who's the boss?"

No one replied. Storm would've... but the glares from Jet and Wave told him everything he needed to know; if he said Aerial was boss then he'd pay for it severely back at the Babylon Airship.

Aerial sat back down in her chair and Wave turned off the Nintendo Wii. Then that's when Jet asked the question that was ringing in Storm's head.

"What happened?"

She tilted her head and replied, "I just won. That's what happened."

Storm frowned for a moment and just waited for Jet to correct Aerial. But it wasn't Jet's voice he heard.

"No, he means what happened all those years ago. I only heard part of the story. Storm told me that you fell out of an airship."

"Really? Then it should be obvious. I lived! I lived the fall and now we're back together again!"

Storm looked up from his folded hands and saw that Aerial was smiling at them, that she appeared to know exactly what to say. The albatross smiled when he saw Jet and Wave look at each other. A set of blue-green eyes locked onto his eyes and he looked down quickly, holding back his question. He'd save it for later.

"Answer this question then if you're going to avoid the 'falling out of the airship' question... why did you stop us from stealing the Diamond?"

"Oh... that?"

Wave blinked, seeing Aerial's hesitation. The swallow then realized something was wrong... very wrong.

"Yes that!" Jet said angrily at Aerial. "Why?"

Aerial rolled her eyes.

"I don't have to answer that."

"Oh yes you do! You ruined our chance to getting rich!"

"I think you're being a bit too selfish there Jet," Aerial said quietly.

Storm noticed that kind of reaction was very rare for Aerial. He then asked, "is something-"

"Listen, can we drop that little scene and just have fun? I mean I haven't seen you guys in ages! We shouldn't end our meeting with a fight."

Jet crossed his arms and scoffed. Aerial smiled as she got up, "I'll be right back with drinks okay? You must be thirsty."

The green hawk exited out of the room and that's when Jet's devious, theiving mind began to turn. He turned his attention toward Storm and Wave mirrored Jet's actions and they both smiled.

"Storm!"

"Y-Y-Yes B-Boss?"

"Go find that Diamond."

Storm blinked, "w-wh-what?"

"Are you going deaf? He told you to find the Diamond. If you run into anyone just say you were looking for the bathroom. It's a flawless plan. Just locate the Diamond and we'll come up with the perfect plan."

"We're h-here to t-talk, n-not to-"

"We are here to talk. Today anyways. Tomorrow is a new day, and that'll be a day that won't be wasted talking about the past," Jet remarked as he crossed his arms and looked at the albatross long and hard. "Listen. Do this and you'll get that raise that you've been asking about for almost half a year now."

Storm's interest suddenly increased when he heard that part of the deal. He was hoping to buy something nice, but with the amount of money he was being paid at the moment, he would never afford any of the things he wanted. The albatross felt slightly guilty but he pushed it aside as he saluted Jet.

"Y-Yes Boss!"

Storm walked over to the door and exitted from the office only to be met with the same hallways that were engraved in his mind. He'd seen these walls before, passed the very windows he was passing now. The sky was still clear blue as he looked at the clouds that formed shapes of all sorts. He actually liked looking back at the past, he never really thought about his past until Aerial's return gave him a good enough reason to search for those precious moments.

His wandering mind was interrupted as the familiar Crow/Sparrow Hybrid sped past Storm, ultimately throwing him against a wall.

"OUT OF THE WAY! MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!!" Jack screamed as he kept running.

Storm moved away from the wall until he was slammed against the wall again, and the albatross' hand hit something small and round as Beacon ran after Jack in a blinding fury.

"JACK YOU'RE GOING TO DIE WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!!!"

As Beacon and Jack vanished down the turn in the hallway, Storm began wondering why he felt a sudden breeze. The albatross blinked as he looked toward the wall he was once leaning against to see that it was the clouds and sky he was leaning toward. He yelped as he grabbed onto the wall, anything he could reach and grip firmly on. Storm finally caught himself... holding onto the edge of the airship; and as he looked down, he realized seeing Mobius from over 15,000 feet in the air wasn't helping his frantic mind at all.

So he did what anyone in this position would've done.

"HELP!!"

The sound of Jack swearing caught Storm's attention as he screamed for help again. Jack came and saw Storm.

"Yo Alba! ... Wow, don't take the saying 'hanging out' to the limit like this. This is insane... it deserves to be recorded and sent on the inter-"

"Save it for later! Storm are you okay?"

"I-I-I th-think s-so!"

Beacon glared at Jack, "grab a hold of one of his hand and I'll take the other and we'll pull."

Jack stared at Storm's massive hand and shook his head.

"You're crazy if we-"

Storm's grip started to slip and he yelped as one of his hands slipped completely and Storm's safety hung by only one hand. Beacon grabbed the hand and started to pull. Of course what Beacon hadn't considered was Storm's size, weight and so forth, so what Beacon was met with was a major backache as his attempts at pulling Storm back into the ship failed miserably.

"Jack! Do something!"

"Want me to close the door?"

"NO! Get Ace! Or Flame! Yeah. Get Flame!"

"Flame's on another one of her expeditions!"

"Now of all fu... you know what? Get Ace, damn it!" Beacon practically shouted with anger as Jack's eyes widened and the hybrid darted away what seemed pretty close to how fast Sonic could run. "Hang on Storm!"

Storm did but he felt his hand slipping from Beacon's grip, and that's when he felt like this scene was already played out once before. Beacon's hand slipped and Storm felt the air rush past him.

"STORM!" Beacon cried out as he tried to grab his hand again but failed.

Now was the time Storm wished that he didn't listen to Jet and tried to find the Diamond. How stupid was he for agreeing to do this? Nothing ran through Storm's mind as he was falling except this.

_"I'm gonna d-die! I-I'm g-gon-gonna di-di-die!!"_

"ALBA!"

Something grabbed his arm and then the rush of air seemed to be reduced slightly. He looked and saw a pair of blue-green eyes.

"Aerial?"

"Hey Alba! Glad you didn't fall down anymore than you did. I don't think the rope would've reached."

"R-rope?"

Aerial nodded as she pointed up and Storm saw that they were being suspended in the air by the rope that was being held by everyone. Aerial smiled as she tugged on the rope.

"PULL US UP!" she shouted loudly past the rush of air.

As though on que, Storm and Aerial started to be pulled up toward the airship... until-

"DAMN IT! AERIAL!!"

The duo looked up to see that the rope was about to snap.

"Oh... damn," she whispered as she glanced around. She then smiled as she regained her composure. "Hang on!"

Storm seemed confused until Aerial started moving her legs and he tightened his grip on Aerial's hand as he realized what she was trying to do. Storm started to help Aerial swing and soon they were swinging higher and higher until they almost reached the door. Then-

SNAP!

Aerial shrieked along with Storm as they started to fall.

"STORM!"

"ACE!"

Suddenly the duo stopped falling, and the ground was only a few feet below them. Aerial and Storm were clinging to each other and as they looked at what stopped them they bursted out laughing hysterically. What stopped them from becoming the ground was a fairly large tree branch. And Aerial's hoodie was caught on it.

The duo were still laughing as Jet and Beacon appeared on their extreme gears and stopped at the sight.

"And then we-we were fa-falling th-then-"

"I-I know right?! WE LIVED!!"

They started laughing even harder and their faces were starting to turn red. Jet and Beacon glanced at each other with very confused and disturbed looks and they walked over.

"Are you two alright?"

"You bet we are!"

"You could've been killed Aerial!" Beacon yelled angrily.

Aerial and Storm stopped laughing and they stared at Beacon as though he was insane. Storm felt bad but Aerial smiled.

"Let it go Pride. That was fun!"

"That was freaking reckless!!"

"Reckless is my middle name Jet. Did you forget?" Aerial asked as she and Storm realized they were still clinging to each other.

Beacon opened his mouth and Aerial shot a glare that stopped the sparrow dead in his tracks. Storm let go and fell to the ground, Aerial fell out of the tree shortly afterward and she smiled.

"Okay... what happened?"

Storm exchanged a glance with Beacon that shouted 'don't say that I had something to do with this' and with Jet that commanded him not to tell about the search for the Diamond. Storm took a moment to think and he cleared his throat and pointed to Beacon, "he did it."

Aerial faced Beacon and smiled deviously. The sparrow's eyes widened and that's when Beacon abandoned his extreme gear, got on Jet's and they were flying back up to the airship faster than Aerial could pick up Beacon's extreme gear. She looked at Storm and motioned for him to get on. As they were flying, Aerial smiled and said this:

"So... what room were you looking for? I saw you wandering around."

Storm's mind froze at that moment. But what Jet said earlier came into his head and somehow found a way out through his mouth.

"... Bathroom."

**---**

**Okay there could've been several ways I could've ended that chapter but I sort of couldn't decide so I went with this one. Besides, the next chapter will probably be a lot better than this chapter. Then again you guys are the judges of whether or not I did good on this chapter. I hope you guys liked it and please tell me what you think of it.**


	5. Alone with Alba and Secrets

Hey guys! Alright, so I'm going to try to stay on top of getting updates on. Unfortunately my imagination is a bit limited at the moment with homework crowding my mind. Luckily, Chaos Riders isn't the type of story that can be pushed away simply by homework. So I present you another chapter of Chaos Riders and as usual, I hope you enjoy it and please tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her OCs, Aerial the Hawk, Beacon (Pride) the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, and Jack the Sparrow/Crow Hybrid.

Chapter Five has arrived!

* * *

**Chapter Five: Alone with Alba and Secrets**

As one can imagine, Aerial's Airship was filled with chaos as Aerial and Wave hunted Beacon and Jack down and punished them by hitting them over the head with wrenches and wooden katanas. This strange form of punishment lasted almost half an hour and when it was finally over Aerial walked out of her office with a slightly happy smirk etched on her face. Storm of course decided to stay behind and wait for Aerial to come out. He wanted to know what really happened to her after she fell out of the airship.

What Storm hadn't realized until Aerial came out was how small and skinny she seemed. The hoodie gave her a more bulkier appearance but he could bet that she was very skinny under- wait why was he thinking about something as perverted as to what she looked like under the hoodie??

He quickly shook the idea out of his head as he flashed a smile at Aerial.

"Are they okay?"

"Give them about a good hour and they won't even know what happened or what hit them. Just don't tell them I own a katana, they'll probably be more careful if they found out about me owning a weapon."

"You mean they don't know about it?" Storm asked as they started to walk down the narrow hallways.

Aerial nodded.

"You bet they don't. I hit them hard enough for them to forget."

Storm stared at Aerial; for some reason he couldn't believe that Aerial was capable of inflicting memory loss on people like Beacon and Jack.

"... Um, what are you staring at?"

"N-Nothing."

The hawk smiled slightly at that remark and they stopped in the middle of the hallway. Aerial jumped up and grabbed on a piece of rope, and as she came down, a stairway was revealed.

"Tada! Secret place to calm down. Besides, I think we need the time to relax, especially after almost falling to our deaths," Aerial stated as she took Storm's hand and dragged him up the small steps and into the dark room.

The room reeked of dust and as Storm looked around he saw that there were large bookshelves lined with large books, some that resembled children's books, all the way up to some that were heavy books like an old dictionary. Twitching slightly at the large range of books, Aerial led Storm onto an old chair and Aerial sat down on an old table.

Silence passed between the duo and Aerial looked around before glancing at Storm and asking, "So Alba... what's up?"

"Not much."

She smiled.

"Looks like you became a friend to Jet after all."

"Y-Yeah."

"I'm glad. You were always worried about not making friends with him. But it looks like you've branched out a little. What's Wave like?"

"W-Wave? W-W-Well..."

Storm's mind was flooded with different incidents where Wave chased him around with a giant wrench, yelled at him and called him stupid, insulted him about his extreme gear skills, and attempted to get him in trouble with Jet. How could he describe Wave? Evil? Very disturbing when angered? He couldn't decide what to say so he lied.

"She's a-alright. Sh-she's the mechanic."

"Really? Um, this is kinda embarrassing but our mechanic is Jack. The eleven year old you saw running away from Pride."

Storm blinked, "Flame isn't the mechanic?"

"Nah, she's smart when it comes to innovating existing gears and skates and stuff, but she's hardly around so Jack's learned how to do half the things she does."

"Where does Flame go?"

Aerial shrugged, "beats me. Small expeditions to finding some materials as well as meeting her friends outside the Chaos Riders. I mean there's Avril the bat... there's others but I honestly lost track of them."

Storm nodded politely and he began wondering why Aerial didn't talk about other friends she had, but talked about Flame having so many friends.

"What about you? What kind of friends do you have?"

Aerial's eyes dropped down to her folded hands and she sweatdropped.

"I... never really made friends with anyone. Save for Pride, Flame, Jack, Jet, Wave and you."

"How come?"

"No one wants a reckless kid as a friend. Everyone thinks because I'm reckless that I'm going to be nothing but trouble so people tend to avoid me."

"We didn't avoid you."

Aerial smiled at that, "yes that's true. Then again we were kids and we didn't really know each other that well. We just hung out so much that by not hanging out with each other seemed unnatural."

"I guess that's true."

Silence passed over the duo to the point where it seemed awkward to even say anything. Then Aerial seemed nervous about something, as though she wasn't sure what to say. Storm instantly noticed something was wrong, Aerial never got nervous about anything.

"Something wrong?"

"Um... Alba... what would you do with the Diamond? Sell it?"

Storm began wondering about what Jet's plans were exactly for the Disaster Diamond, of course he knew better than to ask and appear dumber than usual.

"Dunno, depends what Jet wants to do with it."

"If he wants to sell it, then don't let him."

"A-Are you saying that w-we might s-"

"I'm not saying you would Alba, I'm saying that Jet probably would. This is my brother we're talking about! He's a theif! Either way, if he does do something like that, don't let him sell it... it's got medical potential."

The albatross blinked, "Med...ical... potential?"

"That's right. It's like medicine that never runs out, and it cures almost anything."

If you've ever felt extremely confused just because you didn't understand something completely, then you know how Storm felt as he repeated, "Medical... potential?"

"Yep. Listen, you guys were going to steal it for no gain except for money that would buy you a week worth of food, maybe a month worth. We stole it before you because we had a reason to have it."

Storm crossed his arms as he stared at Aerial, "I-I'm listening."

"Well... since you now know the Diamond has medical purposes and you've seen how healthy we are, you're probably wondering why we would need it," Aerial paused for a moment as she looked down at her folded hands and she seemed to be embarrassed by something.

"Continue."

"Right. Sorry. I was debating whether to show you-"

"Show me what?" Storm questioned as he mimicked a curious look of a little kid.

Aerial's hands shook as she got down on her knees and dug through a small cardboard box. She took out a piece of paper and she stared at it before she held out the paper for Storm to see. The albatross looked at it and he was instantly confused.

"What's this?"

"... I had to see a doctor after a certain... incident happened to me. And that's why I need the Diamond around..."

"What are you talking about?"

"Alba," Aerial stopped before she hugged Storm and she whispered, "something bad happened and because of it... well... I'm-"

The entrance to the secret room opened and Aerial let her hug on Storm go; she would have to tell him the news later. Jack poked his head up and he smiled, "Ace! Alba! Flame's back! And she brought back someone new!"

Storm looked at Aerial, curious as to what the picture she showed him meant, why she seemed so embarrassed, so torn. Then something led him to thinking the true possibility. Aerial got up and she put the picture on the chair, as Storm stared at the picture. He looked at the date and he realized that it wasn't taken no more than about two weeks ago. But when Aerial carefully walked out of the secret room, Storm turned the picture around to see the back. It was only one word that nearly made Storm faint, one that made him feel uncertain...

And it was that one word that made Storm run after Aerial, dropping the picture onto the ground in the process.

**---**

**Hehehe, you guys won't know what the picture is. But I'm sure some of you might have a good guess. I'm open to hear them too, since I'm still having a huge debate about how this is going to turn out. Don't worry though, I'll reveal what's really going on next chapter hopefully. I hope you guys liked the chapter and please tell me what you think.**


	6. Dummy Buddies

Hey guys! Okay so a few of you figured out Aerial's condition and for that I congratulate Mariko-ai-chan and Kiba Sniper for being the first two reviewers for guessing that right. Also, I'd like to admit that this chapter was a bit difficult to write since I had to use someone else's character. That's right Mariko-ai-chan, I'm fulfilling that promise I made a long while ago! Anyways, with that said I'd like to present this next chapter to Chaos Riders, and as usual I hope you all enjoy it and please tell me your opinions on the chapter.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her usual OCs, Aerial the Hawk, Beacon the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, and Jack the Sparrow/Crow Hybrid. Dusk the Hedgehog doesn't belong to me but to Mariko-ai-chan who I must thank her for letting me use him.

Three... Two... One... READ!!

* * *

**Chapter Six: Dummy Buddies**

Storm darted down out of the secret room, but tripped on the way out and came crashing to the hard ground. The albatross had stars circling his head for a while until Aerial ran back and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asked almost in a concerned tone.

"Y-Yeah," Storm quickly replied as he got to his feet and spun around, showing that he was fine.

Aerial smiled as she took his hand in her own and the duo started to run toward the entrance of the airship where they saw a metallic orange swallow with ocean blue eyes; this was obviously Flame. But... the person standing beside her wasn't a familiar face at all. The red streaks and red eyes reminded Storm of Shadow the Hedgehog, but it was the white spikes that caught him off guard and left him completely confused.

Jack tilted his head at the white hedgehog and walked around him, studying him. Flame looked slightly annoyed but she didn't say anything that would indicate that.

"Hi guys."

"Who's that?"

"This? He says his name is Dusk the Hedgehog, and he wanted to try riding the extreme gear that I had brought, so I let him and what happens? He crashes it into a tree and makes me drag him up here to apologize!" Flame said angrily as her hands began to flicker with a few flames.

Dusk glanced around until he saw Storm and he darted over to him.

"Who are you?!"

"U-U-U-Um-"

"U-U-U-Um? That's a weird name. Well my name is Dusk, U-U-U-Um."

"M-my name is S-Storm!"

"Storm? Storm U-U-U-Um?" Dusk questioned in a very confused tone that matched his expression.

Annoyance started to run through Storm as Flame, Jack and Aerial started to laugh. Storm groaned as he said, "it's Storm! Just STORM!"

Dusk blinked and smiled as he cheerfully said, "hi Storm."

_"Finally he gets it!"_ Storm thought to himself.

"Where are we Flame?"

"Aerial's Airship. You have to pay for breaking my extreme gear somehow and Aerial's going to decide."

Dusk looked at Aerial who seemed thoughtful. A few seconds passed until Aerial said, "you'll be our maid. You'll clean all of our rooms, and fix... can you cook?"

"... Yes."

"And you'll fix us breakfast for the next week. Do this and we'll let you go."

"Okay."

"What's going on?" Wave asked as she walked toward the others with Jet following behind her. Jet looked a bit pale and Wave seemed really concerned.

"Dusk destroyed my extreme gear and he's gotta stay up here and work off the debt."

Wave looked at Flame.

"Where's the extreme gear?"

Flame dug through her jean pockets and took out numerous parts of the extreme gear, but they looked burned and nearly unrepairable. After several minutes passed, Wave stared at the mountain of burnt extreme gear parts and the purple swallow turned her attention to Dusk who shivered at the sight of Wave's wrench.

"HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING?!"

"HIDE ME!" Dusk screamed out in fear as he hid behind Storm.

Storm's eyes widened as Wave charged toward the duo in a very furious fashion. The albatross knew better than to destroy anything that related to an extreme gear because Wave would chase after them and make them pay for ruining something that was probably worth a lot.

Aerial yelled at Wave to stop, and just as Wave was about to hit Storm... something stopped the purple swallow and Storm braced himself for a hit that never arrived. When he opened his eyes he saw that Wave was unconscious, Jet was shocked and in front of Storm was Dusk the Hedgehog wielding a single leek and it was broken in half.

The albatross was speechless and aparently so was everyone else, well save for Jack who was laughing.

"THAT WAS GREAT!! Yo Ace! Wasn't that awesome?"

Aerial walked over to the duo, "I'm sorry that happened. Are you okay?"

"F-Fine."

Dusk nodded, "you bet."

Aerial flashed a smile as she turned to Jet, "there's a spare room down the hall a little way. Perhaps you can take her there?"

Jet looked at Wave, stared for a long moment at Wave before he shook his head and sighed.

"Storm, you do it."

Storm sighed as he lifted the unconscious Wave and started to walk down toward the room.

"Hey Alba... um... sorry that I didn't do anything to stop-"

"That's okay. I was sorta expecting to get hit. Guess Dusk has my thanks," Storm stated as he opened the door and walked in.

Aerial waited as Storm threw Wave onto the small bed and he nearly ran out of the room and slammed the door shut.

A long moment of silence passed between them as they looked at the floor.

"Are you that afraid of Wave? Looks like you're still shy around girls huh?"

Storm was shocked hearing that coming from Aerial. He held up his hands and shook his head.

"I-I'm not interested in h-her!"

The hawk laughed and for a moment Storm was almost certain that she planned that. Aerial stopped laughing and she smiled at Storm.

"Alba, you know I'm just kidding. Besides, I'm right and you know it. You're still shy around girls, I mean after all... with that kid that bullied you when you were younger and-"

"Th-That was just coincidence th-that he bullied m-me at the same moment that I-"

"AWW! Are we going to hear a love story?"

Dusk peeked from around the corner of the hallway and Storm felt about ready to chase after him. Aerial glanced at Storm before turning her attention to Dusk.

"Get. Out. Before I get my katana out and whip your eavesdropping-"

Aerial didn't get to finish as Dusk was gone in the next couple seconds. She crossed her arms and returned her full attention to Storm.

"I'm sorry Alba. Boys will be boys I suppose."

Storm dropped his gaze to the floor. He remembered what the picture showed; a child that was inside of Aerial, a baby. And he knew that some guy did that to her without her consent. He wasn't sure if it was true or that he was just telling himself that so he wouldn't feel so sad, but that didn't change the fact that Aerial was a soon-to-be-mother.

"Alba... are you mad at me?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad?" Storm questioned as he looked up at Aerial who was looking at the blank walls.

"... 'Cause I'm pregnant..."

"I wouldn't be mad over something like that. I'm just... well... shocked."

Aerial nodded, "I would've told the others first... but you're the first one to know."

"I-I-I a-am?" Storm stuttered as he seemed very nervous.

"Of course. Alba you're my best friend, why wouldn't I tell you something like this? Besides, best friends always share secrets. You should remember that from when we were kids."

And Storm did.

**--- Flashback: Six Years Earlier ---**

_The albatross remembered pacing around the huge office where Jet's father would do all his work, show Jet what to do when he became boss of the Babylon Rogues, and where Storm was waiting for Jet to arrive. He even remembered that he was extremely nervous because earlier that day he ran into the girl of his dreams, a young raven named Trill, and with his timid nature, he embarrassed himself in front of her. So now he was waiting for Jet, and trying to not look so embarrassed at that moment._

_Then the door crashed open. Storm turned around and saw Aerial closing the door quickly, the eight year old was obviously stuck in the sea of fear. She sighed as she slid down to the floor, her back pressed against the door and it was then that she noticed Storm staring at her with an accusing glare._

_"What?!"_

_"What did you do now Aerial?"_

_Storm glaring at Aerial was almost a rarity, while compared to Aerial getting into mischief which was an every day occurance, this just meant one of two things. She did something she was going to regret._

_Aerial ran over to Storm and hugged him. She was very short and she looked even younger than eight._

_"Alba I'm so so sooooo sorry!!"_

_"Sorry, what for?"_

_"... It's a secret."_

_"I'll promise not to tell."_

_"That's not good enough," Aerial quickly said and she had a suspicious look plastered on her face._

_"I'll tell you one of my most well guarded secrets if you tell me what you did," Storm added._

_The small hawk glanced at the door and nodded, "okay... you know that raven chick... erm... Trill was her name I think."_

_"Y-Yeah... what about h-her?"_

_"I sorta dumped soda on her shirt and the ice sorta fell into her shirt... and maybe she got mad and chased after me in an angry vengence."_

_Storm felt like crying. Outside the door was the girl that he embarrassed himself in front of and the door was going to burst open any minute and he wasn't even presentable._

_"HELP ME!" Storm cried out of pure nervousness as he shook Aerial, "TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!"_

_Aerial blinked. And blinked._

_"This is your well guarded secret? You like Trill?"_

_"N-No!... yes."_

_"Figured. Maybe this is good. I'll hide and you talk! Just pretend you're talking to me Alba. It'll be just fine," Aerial remarked as she hid inside the large wardrobe which wasn't filled with clothes but with stray papers. The door closed to the wardrobe just as the entrance door flew open, revealing a raven with silver eyes that were piercing every object, every person standing in her way with lethal daggers and freshly sharpened knives._

_Trill was only eleven, a total brat in Aerial and Jet's opinion but Storm thought differently of her, no matter how badly she treated him. Right now was what Jet would call her 'Rampage Mode'._

_"WHERE IS SHE DAMMIT!?" Trill shouted angrily as she looked around swiftly, looking for that one thing out of place._

_Storm was stunned by her beauty, despite the soda that dripped from her shirt. He felt a blush creep into his face and he walked over to Trill._

_"A-A-are y-you-"_

_Trill crossed her arms and said in a completely snobish voice, "dummy, help me find... what'chacallher."_

_"W-Wouldn't y-you r-rather-"_

_"I said help me find her dammit!"_

_Storm pushed Trill out of the room and pointed down the hall, Trill smiled in a sickly sweet manner before she darted down the hallway. Aerial came out of her hiding place._

_"What are you doing? You had your chance to tell her you liked her!"_

_"Between you and me, she's a brat..."_

_"But you like her."_

_"Don't worry about it. I recommend staying here though otherwise you might not live to make it to your ninth birthday."_

_And that's how Aerial was saved, how Trill was foolishly tricked, and how Storm figured out he needed a better sense of judgement when it came to women and their anger issues._

**--- End of Flashback ---**

At the time, those were major secrets that were kept between the duo, but now that Storm looked back on them, he felt like those were dust particles compared to being the only one who know about Aerial being pregnant.

"Think you can keep this a secret Alba? And not tell Jet or Wave or... well anyone? If they knew then they... I don't even know what they would do. Please keep it a secret."

Storm looked at Aerial for a very long moment before realizing that he saw the same emotion that she had all those years ago when she did what she did to Trill. He smiled.

"Okay. I-I w-won't tell."

"OH MY CHAOS! YOU'RE PREGNANT?!"

"DUSK GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Storm shouted as the albatross chased after Dusk. They ran for about ten minutes before Jack jumped out of nowhere in front of the duo, causing Dusk to halt, Storm to crash into Dusk and for the duo to fall right in front of Jack. The hybrid was laughing his head off as Aerial ran toward the duo.

They had stars circling around their heads as they seemed dazed. Jack was pointing at them and he laughed, "DUMMY BUDDIES! That's what you guys are! You're so dumb that you couldn't have found a better way to stop!"

"Jack..."

Jack looked scared as Aerial took out her katana and the real scare of Jack's life began. As Aerial and Jack vanished down the long hallway, Storm realized something.

That whole 'dummy buddy' thing wasn't going to go away overnight... wait? Overnight? When Jet said for a day did he mean overnight too? Storm wasn't sure about that, but what he was sure about was this:

He was now the protector of a huge secret that originally belonged to Aerial... and Dusk knew about it. The albatross got up and he lifted Dusk up.

"P-Put me d-down!"

"Sorry... but you can't know about that."

Storm was about to knock the living daylights out of Dusk until the hedgehog screamed, "I'MSCAREDOFTHEICECREAMMANMOMMY!!"

The albatross froze and blinked, not quite sure what he said. He put him down.

"... How about this. I help you out with the cooking thing and you don't tell a soul about Aerial being pregnant."

Dusk groaned and was about to run away until Storm picked him up and panic came over Dusk. Dusk sighed as he nodded.

"Fine... PUTMETHEHELLDOWN!!"

**---**

**And thus is the end of this chapter. Alright, if you guys haven't noticed, Dusk was screaming "I'm scared of the ice cream man mommy," why was he though? I don't even know. Okay so like I said before, this chapter was hard to type because I'm not used to doing other people's character. So I hope I portrayed him right. I tried... Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter and please tell me what you guys think, I'm open for advice for the next chapter.**


	7. Crash Landing

Hey guys! I'm glad you guys liked last chapter and after talking on a forum, I came up with a solution to my cousin erasing my stories! A memory pen! Now I must convince my family to let me have one since in two weeks my cousin is going to be ungrounded and my stories will be at risk. Anyways, as usual I hope you like this chapter and please voice your opinion.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does own her OCs: Aerial the Hawk, Beacon/Pride the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, and Jack the Crow/Sparrow Hybrid. Dusk the Hedgehog does not belong to me but to Mariko-ai-chan who has kindly loaned him to me for the use of this story.

Okay since that is now out of the way, lets get started.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Crash Landing**

It didn't take too long for three things to be made clear to Storm as he walked toward the guest bedroom in Aerial's Airship. One, he and Aerial were still close friends since he was the first one to hear about her little secret; Two, Aerial hadn't changed much in the past years, and she was very good at keeping a punishment going; and three, Dusk the Hedgehog was a horrible cook.

Dinner only lasted ten minutes as everyone glared at the white hedgehog and picked through the charcoal that was on their plate. It was originally suppose to be macaroni and cheese with hotdogs and cheeseburgers... instead it was charcoal, with charcoal, with a side of ash filled water. After Jack took a bite of what everyone assumed to be the macaroni and cheese, he didn't feel too good and everyone else decided against eating. Which led to Aerial getting rid of the cooking punishment and led to everyone heading off to bed early so they wouldn't have to deal with the hunger pains, or in Jack's case, stomach pains.

The door swung open as Storm pushed it open and walked in quietly. A loud rumble filled the room and he placed a hand over his belly.

"Shut up..." he whispered to himself as though by saying that would stop the hunger from making its presence known.

"How about you stop talking to yourself and make your bed?"

Storm looked up quickly to see Beacon sitting on a hammock that hung from the ceiling. The sparrow seemed hungry and slightly irritated, but Storm shook the glare he got from him.

The albatross put his bag down and put down a blanket and he then asked, "can I borrow a pillow?"

Beacon kept glaring at Storm as though he was a wanted criminal and a pillow was whipped at him. Storm fell backwards, not expecting the pillow to hit him in the face. The albatross then placed the pillow down, and he laid down, tossing the blanket over him; but he shivered, not because it was cold but because a pair of emerald eyes refused to leave him.

"Wh-what is it Pride?"

For a long moment silence was the response until the sparrow gave his reply.

"... How do you do it?"

Storm looked up at Beacon.

"D-do what?"

"Get Aerial's attention so easily?"

"W-Well we did know each other since we were kids," Storm casually responded as he sat up.

"I've been friends with her for years and she doesn't act _that_ happy around me."

"A-Are you jealous?"

Beacon's glare was replaced by shock, "J-Jealous?! HA! You're kidding me right? I don't get jealous!"

"Then why are you-"

"Forget I asked," Beacon swiftly interrupted Storm and he laid down in his hammock. A sigh escaped as Storm laid down. "Besides, the longer I keep you up with my nonsense the more hungry we're going to get."

"... Right."

"Night Alba."

Storm blinked and sighed, "good night."

**--- A few hours later ---**

Aerial's Airship had never really been filled with any loud noises except for the occasional strange creaking noises... well until now where snores, the strange creaking noise, and footsteps filled the place with sounds. Now who can sleep through this torment of noises?? Well apparently everyone but Wave could.

The purple swallow laid on her bed and she had a pillow over her head, the noise was driving her nuts! Wave had it. She got out of her bed, stumbling through the darkness and walking out into the narrow hallway. She shut the door to Flame's room quietly and started her adventure in the dark.

Wave was in a daze as she tried to make her way to the bathroom to get away from the noise. But it seemed that everywhere she walked to was filled with sounds that would irritate her beyond belief. Snoring here, the weird creaking noise there, even Dusk sleep talking in Jack's room; who could sleep anywhere on the airship? It was right about now where Wave actually envied Jet for sleeping in Aerial's room where it seemed to be the only silent place on the whole airship.

Something was off though as Wave turned a corner; there was a light on. Wave's blue eyes averted toward the light and she walked toward it. It wasn't the type of light that someone would turn on to read a book or something, it was the type of light that could blind someone in the middle of the night like this. The swallow walked into the room and instantly regreted being half asleep; she covered her eyes and she felt blind as the light was on. She glared, took out her wrench and slammed the light off.

"Finally... here I thought I wouldn't be happy that it's dark. My eyes are-"

"Going to close now."

Wave swiftly turned around but in the darkness it was hard to see who she was talking to.

"What?"

"You were looking for some place to sleep right? Guess this is your lucky day. Nighty-night Wave!" the unknown figure said in a sing-song voice.

Wave prepared to hit the figure over the head with her wrench until silence filled the air around her... well until-

**Crunch, crunch... BANG!**

Wave's eyes widened until she fell to her knees. Her head rang with pain as her eyes closed and she fell completely to the ground, her head bearing a large gash. The figure smiled kindly as she slinked into the shadows of the darkness and ran toward the one place that could pose as a threat if it was to be controlled wrongly. The control room.

Hours passed, maybe it was just a few minutes, Wave wasn't sure. Her eyes opened slowly only to see a red pool around her head, and red flashing lights. She slowly moved herself and felt the back of her head; she was lucky, the bleeding had stopped a long time ago, and she didn't lose too much blood. Her eyes adjusted to her surroundings and she walked toward a window to see clouds flying upward instead of right past them.

Wait... upward, that meant-

_**"System down, system down. All controls are no longer useable. Warning, warning please exit through the nearest exit."**_

Wave swore outloud, not caring at the moment who heard. She ran out of the darkness and ran toward the nearest room. Slamming the door open, Wave saw Aerial sleeping peacefully.

"Aerial! Aerial! Wake up!"

The hawk's eyes looked dazed when she woke up.

"Wha-"

"Systems are down! We're going to crash!"

This caught Aerial's attention. Aerial grabbed Wave by the shoulders and said, "get everyone you can off this airship. I don't want to take any chances that you will get hurt."

"And what about you?"

"I'll be fine. Besides, I'm the only one who knows how to work the control panel anyways. This is just a safety pre-"

**BOOM!**

An explosion filled the airship with an invisible force that caused everyone to yell out of surprise. The duo glanced at each other before they darted toward the other rooms.

Everyone had ran outside of their rooms and either had a look of annoyance, possibly thinking this was some sort of weird joke, or had a confused and scared expression on their face.

"Everyone listen to me. You have to get out of here, the control panels aren't working correctly and-"

**BOOM!**

Silence filled after this explosion.

"... Get the hell out of here is what Aerial's trying to say," Wave swiftly said.

Everyone nodded and ran toward where their extreme gears, skates, bikes, anything that was extreme. Only one person out of the crowd of people remained. Storm.

"Alba what are you-"

"I-I'm not l-leaving without y-you," Storm stuttered. It was obvious that he was scared.

"Alba, I don't want you to get hurt."

"I don't e-either."

Aerial listened as the PA system shouted it's message that Wave had heard previously. She silently cursed, there was no way that she'd be able to fix the damage in time to save the ship from crashing. The hawk glanced at Storm, then at her stomach. She was endangering three lives by staying up there. Storm's, her own life...

And the baby inside of her.

"Come on Aerial!"

Aerial nodded, "you're right. Sorry."

Storm lifted Aerial off her feet and ran toward the extreme section of the airship. Aerial blinked, was Alba seriously carrying her? She was about to scold him for doing that without a warning, but something told her to be quiet and let this slide by. Then something came to her head.

"The Disaster Diamond!"

"What?!"

"We have to go back!"

"No way! I-If we don't get out w-w-we'll-"

"Be dead?"

Storm nodded solemnly. Aerial knew better than to get involved with danger, but the Disaster Diamond was stolen for a reason.

It was too late now though. She would have to only hope the Diamond would survive the crash. The doors flung open as Storm charged right through it. He dashed and saw that his extreme gear was missing, this made him panic.

"Extreme bike!" Aerial shouted, pointing to the bike that was leaning against the wall.

Storm grabbed it and got on it, and allowing Aerial to sit on it. Her arms wrapped around as much of Storm as her arms would let her, and she waited as Storm started it...

... But nothing happened.

Aerial's eyes widened and so did Storm's. There were no other extreme equipment to be used, there were no parachutes nearby, the only option was to jump out and pray they were safe.

"Alba-"

Storm grabbed Aerial and carried her as he ran full speed toward the exit. He opened it and grabbed onto the sides, and looked down. He wasn't sure where they were, it seemed like a beach of some sort. He gulped and he glanced at Aerial who had looked behind Storm. The albatross did and that's when he saw what Aerial was glancing at.

**BOOOOOOOOOOM!! BLAST!**

The last explosion errupted, and the force pushed the albatross and the hawk out of the airship. The air flew by them so fast that it seemed like they were floating. Storm wondered if they were actually dead, after all his whole body seemed to ache suddenly. But that's when Storm looked down to see trees coming closer and closer. At one time they seemed to be almost floating... until the trees came and ended that illusion.

**---**

**Hey guys! I am so sorry this chapter is late. Writers block has just slammed into me in the last minute and nothing came until sometime in eight in the morning. So once again, I'm sorry. Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please tell me what you think.**


	8. More News

Hey guys! Okay, I've got this idea that's revolving around in my head at the moment and I think it fits slightly well with Chaos Riders. So thanks to the music I've been listening to for two hours straight I think I gained a good idea. I hope you guys like the chapter and please tell me what you guys think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does own her usual OCs: Aerial the Hawk, Beacon/Pride the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, and Jack the Crow/Sparrow Hybrid. Dusk the Hedgehog belongs to Mariko-ai-chan and always will.

Here's the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter Eight: More News**

"Storm!"

"Ace!"

Those two names were being called by the group of avions and by the one hedgehog that wandered through the woods. Beacon and Jet were the two that first saw the duo falling without an extreme gear, but it was Wave that realized that they crash landed through a few trees. Their footsteps were clearly heard as they stepped on the orange and brown dried up leaves that made their new residence on the floor of the woods.

"STORM! IF YOU CAN HEAR US, YELL SOMETHING!" Jack called out as he followed behind Flame.

Flame was walking toward the front and beside her was Dusk the hedgehog... who was holding her hand as though it was a life line. After a few minutes of this, Flame had enough.

"Okay Dusk, not to be rude or anything but... WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HOLDING MY HAND?!"

Dusk blinked; he figured that was pretty rude, but eh, he wasn't the one to judge.

"It's what people do when they're lost duh," Dusk replied as though he knew everything there was to know.

Flame ripped her hand out of Dusk's grip, "We are not lost. Now shut up so we can find our way out."

"We _are_ lost aren't we?"

Fire started to crackle from her hands and she questioned, "anyone object if we have roasted hedgehog for breakfast?"

It was still dark out, but according to Wave it was almost three in the morning. No one said a word but stared at Flame, wondering if she really would hurt him. Flame was about to lunge at Dusk until a voice said, "I take that as a personal offense."

"Isn't that-"

"Why is _he_ here?" Jet asked as he watched as a blue blur passed by them and stopped in front of Flame. Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Because I want to be here Jet, that and I take it you're missing Storm?"

"What's it matter to you?"

"Well Knuckles just went looking for him..."

Dusk then poked his head between Sonic and Jet, "should we be concerned about that?"

"YES!" they both replied with a shout.

"Knuckles and Storm can't stand each other."

Dusk just blinked, obviously not getting the major problem here. Sonic stared at Dusk and so did Jet.

"... I don't get it."

Sonic rubbed his temples and started to explain all that happened in the Sonic Riders game and waited for Dusk's wise reply of "oh I get it". But Dusk still gave them a blank stare.

"... I still don't get it."

"If you guys want roasted hedgehog, feel free to eat him," Sonic said calmly.

"NEVERMINDIGETIT!" Dusk shouted out.

Sonic chuckled and Jet rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, I need to find Knuckles."

"What for?"

"Rouge the bat stole a chaos emerald so we need to find her and get it back," the blue hedgehog explained.

"Wait... you mean that sexy bat?"

Everyone stared at Beacon who just blinked with fear.

"Ahem, I meant-"

"No you meant what you said."

Beacon stared at Flame whose hands were still on fire.

"Please don't kill me?"

"Oh you better start running if you don't want to join Dusk in the roasted catergory."

Beacon swore as he ran away, half dragging, half carrying Dusk away into the distance. Flame smirked, "see? I tell them to be quiet, they don't, so they wind up putting themselves in situations that would get us out of the woods."

"Ooookay, that was smart-"

"And creepy."

Flame just smiled kindly at the remarks, "well all we can do is hope Knucklehead finds Aerial and Storm."

"Wait! They _hate_ each other!"

"You don't know what Aerial can do between two feuding people."

As Flame started to follow the trail of Dusk and Beacon, Sonic and Jet blinked and slowly started to follow her along side Wave and Jack.

**--- Meanwhile in another section of the woods ---**

Aerial groaned as she woke up; it was dark out and she wondered why the ground felt so soft... and why it was a light grey color. She sat up and saw that she had falled right on Storm.

"ALBA!"

Storm woke up and covered his eyes with his arm, "too early."

Aerial rolled her eyes and she gasped as she remembered that she had taken a huge fall and there was still a baby inside of her. She put a hand on her stomach as though that was going to tell her if the baby was okay.

Storm moved his arm away from his eyes as he sat up and saw Aerial.

"U-Um... we'll check when we get out of here if... the baby's okay."

The green hawk nodded as she sighed, "'kay... Lets try and-"

Aerial yelped as a red echidna walked out of the darkness of the woods. Storm blinked in surprise and stood up.

"Alba? What a weird nickname," Knuckles remarked as he smirked. Storm cursed under his breath that he heard Aerial yell "Alba". He sighed, he'd knock it out of his memory in a few minutes anyways.

"Whatever, why are you here Knuckles?"

"Heard your friends were looking for you so I decid... why isn't Wave with you Jet?"

Aerial blinked, "N-no! I'm Aerial Ace, I'm Jet's sister."

Knuckles slapped his forehead and groaned.

"Great... there's another one."

"What's that suppose to mean?!" Storm growled with anger.

Knuckles and Storm glared at each other and clenched their hands into fists. Aerial blinked, not liking where this was going to go. She walked in between them and pushed them away.

"No fighting! You can fight when we get out of here. Listen Knuckles, we're lost. We need help getting out of here. Afterwards you two can fight. Until then though, help."

Storm's mind was laughing, what were the chances that this echidna was going to listen to Aerial? The albatross' face was painted with shock as Knuckles nodded, "okay, I guess I can do that."

"Thank you. Lead the way Knuckles."

And that's exactly what Knuckles did for the next fifteen minutes. Silence lingered between the trio as Storm insisted that he carry Aerial until he knew the baby was okay, which resulted in Knuckles making gagging noises, Storm almost dropping Aerial to punch the side of his head, and almost resulted in a full blown war against the albatross and echidna. Aerial easily quieted the arguments and silence made it's way back into the trio's minds.

The woods came to an end after a while longer and it wasn't until Storm grinned that Aerial cheered that they were free from the woods. Knuckles smirked and took out a strange brown hat, that somewhat resembled Nack the Weasel's and put it on as the sun began to rise.

"And we're out."

"Now to find a hospital," Storm said as he started to walk toward a town.

"Hospital?"

"Yea, she fell from the sky so we wanted to make sure the baby was still okay."

Knuckles stared at Storm then down to Aerial and this repeated for five minutes straight as they all made their way toward South Island. Finally the echidna had enough guts to ask the question that has been screaming in his head for the past five minutes.

"... Are you the... um..."

"NO!" Storm quickly said, "n-n-no! I-I'm just her fr-friend. N-not a d-d-d-dad!"

Aerial giggled at Storm's reaction and she saw the hospital coming into view.

"If you're not the father... who... is?"

Aerial's face was crestfallen as she looked down. Storm looked awkward as Knuckles waited for an explanation.

"I... was raped."

If the awkward silence wasn't awkward before, it definately was now as they entered the South Island Hospital. Aerial got out of Storm's hold and walked over to the reception area.

"Excuse me, I was hoping to get an ultrasound."

"Ultrasound? Alright... you can wait in the waiting room and we'll call you when we're ready to see you."

Aerial smiled, "now you can do what you guys want while I get my ultrasound done."

Knuckles and Storm nodded as they walked outside and sat on the cracked pavement.

"Raped?"

"Yes."

"How do you know her?"

"She was my best friend a long time ago," Storm explained, "but she sort of disappeared. Then we were trying to steal this rare gem called the Disaster Diamond but her group stole it away from-"

"Wait... did you just say Disaster Diamond?"

Storm nodded.

Knuckles then face palmed himself and got up.

"What's up?"

"Come on!"

"Huh?"

Knuckles lifted Storm up and started to drag him away from the hospital, "W-wait! What a-about-"

"We'll be back before she's done. You need to hear this."

"... Hear what?"

Knuckles stopped in front of a store that had two flat screen TVs in the display case that was playing the news.

_**"It was a sad tragedy for Westopolis as they lost one of the rarest gems on Mobius, the Disaster Diamond. Police suspect that the Babylon Rogues commited this but people also believe it was a new band of thieves. But it was an even greater loss for South Island as their museum was under the attack of a strange group of people. As a result the Disaster Diamond of South Island was taken. Nothing else was taken. What are these Disaster Diamonds and why are they being stolen?"**_

"... Shoot."

"What?" Storm asked.

"I knew you guys were up to something with the Disaster Diamond in Westopolis, but... did you steal from here?!"

"NO!"

Knuckles stared at the picture of a group of thieves that all resembled shadows of some sort and he sighed, "what's going on? The Disaster Diamonds aren't even suppose to exist now."

"Exist now? What does that mean?"

"Silver the hedgehog, a friend of Sonic's, came back from the future for a visit... but... I think his visit set something in motion that wasn't suppose to happen."

"What makes you think this isn't suppose to happen now?"

The echidna was going to respond until he saw Aerial walk out and walk toward them, "listen, we've got a Disaster Diamond and according to what Tails found out, these things are part of a weird mystery that really was never solved."

"Why are you telling me this? Why not tell the Chaotix?"

Knuckles watched as Aerial joined them.

"Hey Alba! Hey Knux! Do you happen to know where Jet and the rest are? I've decided to tell them I'm pregnant. The baby's completely safe, probably because I landed on you Alba... Knux? What's wrong?"

Knuckles smiled calmly, "I don't know where Jet and the others are, but we need to go back to Westopolis."

"How come?"

"We're getting the Chaotix to help us..."

Storm sighed.

"I'll explain what happened on our way there."

**---**

**Okay guys here's the chapter! Wow, now there's three Disaster Diamonds that are known about, and time for the Three Greatest Detectives On The Face Of Mobius!! THE CHAOTIX!! Alright, so what can happen now that the Chaotix might get involved, where are Jet and the others... Did Dusk and Beacon become Flame and the others breakfast? The last question was silly, of course not, but read next time to see what happens and what this "mystery" is all about. I hope you guys liked it, tell me what you guys think!**


	9. The Greatest Detectives Are These Guys?

Hey guys, okay I wanted to update this since it's been what? Two months or so since I've updated this? And I do apologize for the very long delay of updating this one when I've updated Last Stand and Family Matters, I just sorta lost the idea but I started to recall a little of my idea. As a result, this chapter was written. About time! As always, I hope you enjoy the chapter and I hope you leave your comments on it. Everything counts!

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Character nor does she own Sega. She does however own Aerial the Hawk, Beacon/Pride the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, and Jack the Crow/Sparrow Hybrid. Dusk the Hedgehog belongs to Mariko-ai-chan (Mariko the Unemployed Ninja) and always will.

Here's the chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Greatest Detectives Are These Guys?**

"And that's why we're going to see the Chaotix," Knuckles finished explaining to Aerial as they just entered Westopolis. Storm almost fell asleep listening to the boring tale that Knuckles told, but thanks to Aerial the hawk, he managed to stay awake. Aerial blinked, not saying anything. It seemed so strange to her.

"Huh that does sound a bit strange."

"Do you know anything about these Disaster Diamonds Aerial?" Knuckles asked as he looked around the city.

Aerial seemed thoughtful and she finally nodded.

"The first one that was stolen was thanks to us, but the South Island one is a mystery to me. I mean the Babylon Rogues couldn't have done it, and I know my team didn't do it."

Knuckles sighed, apparently frustrated that he was travelling with two thieves. He hated the idea that he actually trusted Storm, but he didn't bother questioning his judgement for once, he just wanted to question Aerial. She seemed to be almost identical in appearance when compared to Jet, but there was something that screamed "THERE'S A DIFFERENCE! LOOK FOR IT!". Knuckles shook his head as he kept walking along side Aerial and Storm. That's when he noticed something odd, Storm was silent the whole time.

"Hey bird brain, what are you thinking about?"

Storm didn't bother saying anything for a long time until he asked, "y-you sure the Chaotix c-can handle this?"

The echidna had to stop a moment and think about that. He hadn't seen them in well over a year and even that was enough for him to reconsider. The last time he had seen them was when Charmy was having a major sugar rush, Vector and Espio left him to baby sit the hyperactive bee, and by the time the duo detectives returned, Charmy had tied him up to a chair and somehow painted his face to make it look like the mona lisa. Knuckles shivered suddenly.

"What's wrong?"

"Just had a bad flash back."

Aerial tilted her head and glanced from Storm to Knuckles, "these are good detectives right?"

"Depends on what you mean by good."

Storm looked down at Aerial who suddenly seemed anxious about meeting the Chaotix. The albatross rubbed the back of his neck and seemed rather confused about a few things, but he was knocked out of his thoughts as Knuckles dragged him backwards.

"W-W-What was th-that for?!"

"You just walked past their place!"

Silence followed as the trio stared at the apartment that seemed run down, but yet held a vibe that welcomed anyone inside. Aerial was the first to speak, "here?"

"Yep, they live here."

The echidna walked up the small steps that led to the door and knocked loudly on it. Aerial could hear loud music being played, even from outside the building, and she felt like she would go deaf if she walked inside. When the door opened though the music turned off; relief washed over Storm and Aerial as they saw the leader of the Chaotix looking at them.

Vector the Crocodile stood in the door way with his large black headphones hanging from his neck, and anyone could tell that he had just woke up and rushed down the stairs to answer the door.

"Knuckles? What are you doing here?"

"... We need assistance."

Vector just blinked, obviously in a state of shock from hearing that come out of Knuckles' mouth rather than Aerial's or Storm's. He suddenly snapped back into reality as he led the trio inside.

The outside of the apartment seemed to fit the place better than the inside did. CDs were scattered along the floor of a room to the left of the door, papers and files were stacked high on the table in the kitchen, and everything in general seemed normal... well save for the fact Charmy was sleeping on the files on the kitchen table and Espio was sleeping on the keyboard of a computer. Storm looked around and sweatdropped along with Aerial who mimicked Storm. Knuckles however focused on the CDs that were on the floor.

"I assume you're busy with something important?" the echidna asked as he saw the files and computer.

Vector nodded, "got a call from the museum in South Island and we're assigned to investigate where the Disaster Diamonds went."

Storm blinked; how strange was it that they came to ask them for help, and here they were, one step ahead of them? The albatross didn't know how to react but Aerial did.

"Um... we were sorta hopin' that you'd help us."

Vector looked at Aerial and blinked again, "Jet?"

Knuckles could see Aerial's minor distress and lightly punched Vector in the arm.

"What was that for?!"

"My name is Aerial."

The crocodile stared at Aerial and the hawk thought he actually knew she was a different person... but the next thing that escaped his mouth made her want to cry out of frustration.

"When'd Jet become a cross dresser? Let alone when did- OW!"

This shout woke Charmy up who shrieked and caused the mountain of files on the table to scatter across the floor, which in turn woke Espio up and the chameleon caught Charmy before he hit the floor. Espio's gold eyes locked onto Knuckles, Storm and Aerial as though they were targetting them to launch missiles at them. Charmy looked very confused as he flew to Vector's shoulder and sat on it, looking exhausted.

"For the last time. This is not Jet! This is Aerial," Storm found himself saying as he punched Vector in the arm.

"What's with everyone punching me?!"

Aerial sweatdropped as she crossed her arms and was actually glad that Storm and Knuckles had the nerve to defend her gender and dignity. She sighed as she looked at Espio who sat back down in front of the computer and started to type. The green hawk glanced at Knuckles, Vector and Storm who were all now arguing, and at Charmy who started buzzing around the trio to get them to calm down... of course that just annoyed the crap out of them. Aerial slowly walked toward where Espio was and that's when she saw a small chatroom on the computer screen.

_**What are the Disaster Diamonds? Does anyone know? Where did they come from?**_

Aerial read the message that Espio had posted more than three hours ago and there were only a few responses, ones that didn't seem like they'd get the Chaotix anywhere. Yet she sat next to Espio and watched as he swiftly read through the few replies that he wound up getting. About twenty minutes later, Aerial realized that Espio had fallen back to sleep, and that the trio that were once arguing were now talking calmly, in a gentlemanly manner; this only scared the hawk. She remained in her seat as the title of one reply caught her attention.

_**Mystery of the Three Siblings and the Gems**_

Aerial glanced at the trio and smiled as she pushed Espio away from the computer slightly and she clicked on the reply and she felt herself fall into the story that one person had typed about what he/she/whoever this person was, believed the Disaster Diamonds were.

"All I'm saying is that we're busy with figuring this out," Vector told Knuckles and Storm.

Anyone within a mile radius could sense the tension that seemed to be growing after each passing second between the trio, it was possible that the thing that stopped the trio from arguing was Charmy sitting on what remained of the mountain of files. The echidna didn't seem to take this news well.

"But they're related! If you help us then we'll help you! And we can do it at the same time!"

"Y-Yea what the red mutt said."

Knuckles was about to say something more about the case he was defending until he heard Storm's remark. Slowly, the echidna turned his attention to the gray albatross and glared at him with his violet eyes.

"Red... Mutt?"

Storm then knew his mistake but he felt like hitting something so much, the frustration couldn't be expressed by just insulting Knuckles.

"Yeah, red mutt."

Knuckles took a deep breath, "hehe... I'm just going to ignore that remark and go back to..."

**BANG!**

Storm fell out of his chair, Charmy yelled out Storm's name, and Aerial darted over to where Storm was in a heartbeat, stopping herself from venturing further into the story. Aerial looked at Storm who held his beak.

"O-O-Ow! DAMN IT YOU RED MU-"

Aerial closed Storm's mouth before he could give Knuckles another reason to hit him and instead she walked over to Knuckles.

"Say Knuckles... mind doing something? It's nothing big but can we have like a therapy moment or something where we talk and won't resort to hitting thin-"

"No."

Smiling, Aerial shrugged as she got out her katana, "very well. Since you hit my best friend..."

**POW!**

Knuckles fell to the ground faster than Storm ever did despite Storm being heavier than Knuckles. The echidna was out cold and Aerial smiled as she turned to Vector and Storm, her weapon disappearing. She took her seat back in front of the computer and waved her hand, "continue with your discussion."

The duo found it hard to though as they quietly debated about what to do.

"I mean we could do both at the same time couldn't we? I mean we'd learn more about the Disaster Diamonds and we might even catch the people responsible for stealing them," Charmy told Vector, but he watched as Storm actually agreed with him. The hyperactive bee turned his honey colored gaze toward Vector and looked hopeful.

Vector knew he was out numbered in this count and he sighed.

"Fine. Now Espio was check... Aerial? What are you reading?"

Aerial jumped out of her seat and gracefully walked over to them.

"Articles this guy sent. It's really interesting, when Espio is more awake he'll have to read it and give his opinion on it," Aerial replied.

Storm then felt a ping of suspicion being slammed into Aerial as he looked at her; she looked the same as she did compared to all the other times that he saw her... but something seemed different. Of course he didn't see any change in her physically besides the little bump on her belly that was forming, the baby in her. Storm shook the feeling away as he glanced out the window.

Aerial followed his gaze, "huh looks like it got dark on us."

Vector rubbed the back of his head.

"Aren't you going to offer them a place to stay for tonight Vector?"

Everyone turned their attention to Espio who seemed extremely tired despite the amount of sleep the chameleon probably got. The ninja walked into the kitchen and came back out with a cup of tea. Espio looked at Aerial, Storm and the unconscious Knuckles, then he sighed.

"You guys can have Vector's room and my room as well for the night."

"You sure? That seems like a very generous offer and we wouldn't want to kick you out of your room," Aerial said quickly.

Espio nodded, "I'm sure. Go on up and make yourselves at home... just drag Knuckles to Vector's room."

Storm lifted the unconscious echidna onto his shoulder and Aerial led the way upstairs. Storm soon found Vector's room, opened the door and tossed Knuckles inside the mess that Vector had the nerve to call a room rather than a bedroom sized garbage can. Aerial blinked.

"You sure he-"

"He'll be fine," Storm quickly stated, his slight hatred toward the echidna showing as he gently dragged Aerial toward Espio's room. "Here we are... um..."

Storm knew they would probably share the same room... he just figured there was a guest bed or something in Espio's room so they both would have their own bed. The duo's face turned slightly pink and Aerial seemed to be thinking.

"You can sleep on the bed Aerial, I'll sleep on the floor."

Aerial looked at Storm with a look that said there had to be another way.

"Or we can share the bed. I mean there's no reason not to right?"

The albatross felt his face overheat but made sure his blush wouldn't be seen by Aerial, "R-R-Right."

"What's up? I recall that you stutter when you get nervous or upset."

"N-n-n-nothing!"

Aerial raised an eyebrow at this and rolled her eyes finally, "alrighty then Alba! Lets get some rest so we can help these detectives!"

Soon the duo crawled into the bed and they both felt awkward as they laid next to each other closely. Aerial was the first one to fall asleep, but Storm didn't fall asleep right away.

_"Is Knuckles serious about this? We're going to rely on the Chaotix for help?! Ha! Now who's dumb now? I would've rather chosen Wave over this group of morons! ... ... Then again... we don't really know where they are, might as well follow the red mutt's directions... ugh... I hope I never have to say that again,"_ Storm thought as he stared at the ceiling. He glanced toward the sleeping hawk beside him and blushed. _"One good thing came out of this... ..."_

Storm yawned widely and hugged Aerial as he fell asleep. The night seemed dead silent, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary... well until a very loud scream was heard coming from Vector's room, but it wasn't one of surprise of the state of Vector's room.

It was a scream of pain, the kind that you'd hear if someone was being tortured.

**---**

**And that's the chapter guys! So, I know it's been a while so let me quickly recap you on what happened. Aerial's Airship crashed due to an invader, Aerial and Storm were separated from Jet and the others, and Knuckles ran into them. Storm learned how another Disaster Diamond had been stolen from another museum and Knuckles began to have a theory (Which he hasn't told the Chaotix yet), and so he dragged Storm and Aerial with him to the Chaotix. Just reread the previous chapter to get a more general idea of what's been going on. I hope you guys liked it, and please tell me what you think. Everything counts here.**


	10. Glimpse of the Future

Hey guys! Okay so now this chapter is probably the hardest one I had to write besides the last chapter. I mean the idea for this chapter was in my head, then it kind of took a vacation, and… it didn't want to come back. (Sweat drops) But luckily, I came up with a substitute chapter to replace the last chapter. That and you get a look at the other members of the Babylon Rogues and Chaos Riders. I hope you guys enjoy it and please tell me what you guys think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own the members of the Chaos Riders: Aerial the Hawk, Beacon/Pride the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, and Jack the Sparrow/Crow Hybrid. Dusk the Hedgehog belongs to Mariko-ai-chan (Mariko the Unemployed Ninja) until the end of time and even after that.

Okay now that the overly long Disclaimer is done; let's move on to chapter ten.

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Glimpse of the Future**

The situation seemed strange and surreal, almost like some sort of piece of information that keeps getting forgotten; or at least that's what Jet felt like as he followed the remaining members of the Chaos Riders and Wave. Jet knew that he wasn't forgetting anything but he felt like he was in a blur, almost as if he was riding on his extreme gear as fast as it could go then spinning around three times and being forced to walk.

"Way to go Flame, every time we wind up finding Pride or Dusk we wind up having to follow the trail of foot prints they leave behind," Jack muttered to the metallic orange swallow with slight frustration.

"If you're so frustrated at what I did then why don't you invent something to catch them? Like, I don't know, a pit fall trap maybe?"

"Smart aleck."

"Don't we all know that by now?" Flame asked as she smirked at Jack who seemed ready to scream.

Jet had to snicker at this little rivalry between the duos; he could tell without even actually personally knowing them that they often got into arguments just like Storm and Wave would. But instead of it being an argument over who was smarter and better at extreme gear riding, it was more about who could outsmart the other the most. The hawk, as he watched everyone talking to each other, he could find a few parallels between the Babylon Rogues and the Chaos Riders. Wave was the mechanical genius in the Babylon Rogues while Jack and Flame proved to be pretty smart with mechanical things, Jet was the leader of the Babylon Rogues while Aerial was the leader of the Chaos Riders, and there was Storm who was more of the brute force in his group and not really that bright, and Beacon just proved to not be the brightest light bulb in the pack.

"You look pretty thoughtful Jet," Wave remarked as she walked next to him.

"Yeah I was just thinking about how everyone is so much alike… it's actually pretty creepy if you ask me."

Wave smiled, "So while you were thinking about similarities between us and them, you didn't realize that Sonic just left right?"

Sonic had left? Even as Jet looked around, he didn't see the blue hedgehog anywhere. It was kind of a relief to Jet to not have Sonic around, but it was kind of degrading that he hadn't caught onto this fact earlier. Jet shook his head, he wasn't going to worry about it now, he just hoped that Aerial and Storm found their way out and that they would get out of this forest soon.

"YO PRIDE! YOU TOO DUSK, GET BACK HERE!!!" Flame yelled at the sleeping duo at the top of her lungs.

The duo instantly woke up and were about to run when they blinked and didn't move. Jet could only wonder what they were thinking, but even that gave him the feeling that they were thinking of something stupid, like not moving until they made any hostile moves toward them first. No one moved until Jet growled out of anger.

"THIS IS SO ANNOYING! Just… just come back here you two, we're not going to eat you!"

This convinced Beacon and as he started to walk back he noticed that Dusk hadn't moved.

"Dusk, we can go back now."

"What if they're lying?? They could EAT us!!!"

Beacon sighed out of annoyance and dragged Dusk back.

"NOOOO!!! I don't want to be eaten… MOMMY!!!"

"Oh be quiet will you?" Wave told Dusk as she darted ahead for a second and smiled, "Hey I think we're out of here!! There's a town right outside!"

"Seriously? ALRIGHT!"

That was all that anyone needed to hear before they all bee lined to the exit of the forest. As the city came into view they blinked in slight shock to see police cars waiting for them at the exit and sirens blared into the air.

For a long moment, silence was the Babylon Rogues response until Jet questioned, "Are you freaking kidding me??"

"You are all under arrest, come with us with your hands up!"

Jet looked at Wave and seemed like he had a plan. He raised his hands in the air along with Wave. Soon everyone decided to follow suit. Though no one got to see what the duo avians' plans were as a bright blue-green light appeared in front of them and a silver figure stepped out from the mini portal before it disappeared. Jet blinked and so did everyone else; he looked semi familiar but no name could be placed on the figure who stood staring at the police cars and at the group of avians.

The figure was a silver hedgehog with the most adorable gold eyes anyone had ever seen. He was wearing light grey boots with teal and black colors on them, and he had a serious look plastered on his face as he focused his gold eyes onto the police cars. He held out his hands in front of him and suddenly a light green light escaped from his hands and slammed into the police cars, forcing them to fly backwards and explode as they either collided with each other or were upside down for too long.

"These people are innocent of everything officers," the hedgehog calmly stated.

The police still held their guns pointed at them and all Jet could think of was that they weren't out of the clear; they were in even more trouble than before. Suddenly bullets were flung toward them at high speeds and just as soon as they flew toward them, they fell to the ground, encased in a light green light.

"You won't listen? Fine then."

Just as the hedgehog said that, he took out a chaos emerald and Jet remembered the first Ex World Grand Prix and how the chaos emeralds were sources of power.

"Chaos control!"

Then they vanished out of sight, leaving police officers running back to the police station to file a full out search for the silver hedgehog.

---

It took the green hawk a while to recognize where they were, Station Square. Everyone looked toward the hedgehog as if he had a contagious disease, careful not to do anything that could offend him.

"Who are you?" Jack asked out of the blue, probably the first question that they should've asked when the hedgehog first appeared.

"My name is Silver. And you must be Jack; she's Flame, Wave… Pride, Dusk, and finally you must be Jet. You're the thieves that were after the Disaster Diamonds right?"

Everyone blinked and nodded, there was no way to deny that this guy knew a lot. Silver seemed appreciative that they actually decided to be truthful rather than try to hide it.

"You're all being falsely accused."

At this statement, the only reaction Silver got from the group of avians and the albino hedgehog was slightly gaped mouths and looks of disbelief; did Silver actually say they were being falsely accused when they said they did steal the Disaster Diamond from Station Square.

"Um, Silver what exactly do you mean by falsely accused?" Wave asked.

"I mean you only stole from Station Square right? Not Westopolis or South Island right?"

Wave nodded, "Yeah, we only stole from Station Square."

"You see, the police are on high alert in Westopolis and South Island… not so much as here, because the Disaster Diamonds have been stolen."

Flame blinked, "There's more than one?"

"Yep, and judging by what you've told me, I can tell you're only guilty of one out of three possible thief charges," Silver explained.

"You seem to know a lot about these Diamonds… what exactly do you know about them?"

Silver seemed hesitant in telling them about the Disaster Diamonds and sighed as he finally decided to reveal all he knew.

"The Diamonds hold an incredible power, not as great as the Chaos Emeralds but pretty close. One is used for medical purposes, the other is used for battle capabilities, and the last one is used as a safety net."

"Safety net? You mean we're gonna fall soon?" Dusk asked randomly.

Wave took out her wrench, "Don't make me hit you Dusk."

Dusk soon fell silent, not sure of how to respond but figured he better avoid getting a headache.

"I'm sorry for Dusk's poor timing with asking stupid questions, please con-"

"It wasn't stup-"

Dusk didn't get to finish his sentence as Wave slammed her wrench of doom into Dusk's head and knocked him out. She put her tool away and motioned for Silver to continue.

"Okay where was I? Right, the last Disaster Diamond is used as a safety net, in case something happens to one of the other Diamonds."

"So if these Diamonds have almost as much power as the chaos emeralds, wouldn't they have been discovered earlier?" Jet questioned as he leaned against a building and looked at everyone.

"No. They appeared after my last visit here."

"You've been here before?"

Silver the hedgehog nodded, "Yes I have. I came from the future to visit Sonic and Shadow to see how everything was going. But my appearance here triggered an event that wasn't suppose to happen until much later in time, the discovery of the Disaster Diamonds."

"By discovering these Diamonds, we then connected the dots and figured that the Babylon Rogues would try and steal it."

"And we succeeded in stopping them from stealing it."

"… Was that what was suppose to happen?" Flame asked as she crossed her arms.

"I'm not sure but… the Babylon Rogues and the Chaos Riders were never suppose to meet."

"We… weren't? What happens if we did meet each other though? Because we know each other now and the worse that has happened is that the Chaos Riders' airship blew up," Jet said, anxious to find Storm now more than ever to tell him the news that he wasn't suppose to see Aerial.

Silver the hedgehog looked down and police sirens could be heard in the distance. His eyes widened and he replied, "There's no time to reveal exactly what happens but I suggest we run before we're tossed in jail?"

Everyone seemed to nod in agreement with Silver, though they honestly didn't want to trust him, they had no reason to not trust him… he knew about the Disaster Diamonds and that alone seemed enough to gain the trust of everyone. Though Flame and Pride stayed back.

"We'll watch over Dusky here and you guys keep following Silver 'kay?" Beacon stated.

"How will we find you guys?" Jack asked.

"Do you really have to ask that Jack? We'll find _you_. Now get going!"

Everyone started to run after Silver and the sparrow looked at the swallow then down at the hedgehog.

"Never suppose to meet the Babylon Rogues? Aerial's going to be torn apart by that."

Flame stayed silent until she just looked at Beacon with wide eyes, "We need to find Aerial."

"Why?"

"Let's take a moment and look at what we know. Babylon Rogues are never suppose to meet the Chaos Riders though that has already happened. What could happen?"

The numerous possibilities rose in Beacon's mind and the sparrow finally understood where Flame was coming from. The most frequent option that seemed to keep coming back in his mind was that the duo would die. They looked at Dusk and Beacon sighed, "We can't just leave him though."

"Pride, go find Aerial and Storm, and I'll take care of Dusk okay? I'll catch up with the others after I get Dusk somewhere safe."

"You sure?"

For a long moment Flame stared at Beacon and after a while she nodded, "Of course I am. Now go before I'm forced to go pyrokinetic on your sorry butt."

Beacon laughed slightly as he hugged Flame suddenly and darted off swiftly. Flame blinked and she looked at Dusk and thanked Chaos that he was still out as she grabbed his legs and started to drag him. Now Dusk and Beacon couldn't see the very faint blush that was creeping across her face.

**---**

**There you have it guys. Some information is revealed about the Disaster Diamonds and the Babylon Rogues and Chaos Riders are met with the startling fact that they weren't even suppose to meet. How will this fact change how the Babylon Rogues and Chaos Riders see each other, what was Silver going to say is a result of them meeting? And where exactly is Flame dragging Dusk? Find out in the next chapter of Chaos Riders!**


	11. Accused Part One

Hey guys! Alright here's another chapter of Chaos Riders heading your way! So here's the disclaimer telling what belongs to who and what and then the chapter shall begin. Remember to tell me what you think and also to enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her usual OCs: Aerial the Hawk, Flame the Swallow, Beacon/Pride the Sparrow, and Jack the Crow/Sparrow Hybrid. Dusk the Hedgehog belongs to Mariko-ai-chan (Mariko the Unemployed Ninja) forever and for always.

Here's the chapter guys!

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Accused Part One**

The scream was probably loud enough to wake the dead from their eternal slumber and make them wonder what was going on; while it may have not woken the dead this time, it definitely woke up the Chaotix, Storm and Aerial from their sleep. The five some darted down the hallways and Vector opened the room of his door. Aerial and Storm looked flabbergasted by the state of the crocodile's room but after a minute of studying all the piles of CDs, the old pizza boxes that were gathered in a corner and so on, they saw the red echidna on the ground, holding his head and crying out in pain.

"Knuckles, what's going on?" Espio asked as he ran over to his side along with Aerial.

Knuckles couldn't even give a response as his screams of pain were so loud that Espio's words were lost within the pained shriek. The chameleon lifted Knuckles and moved him onto the bed where he moved the echidna's hands away from his head but that sight made Espio stumble back out of shock.

When Vector, Charmy, Storm and Aerial saw the echidna, they backed away as well, shocked by what they saw. Knuckles had a strange black mark on his head that seemed to pulse red and blood trickled from it.

"Knuckles what happened?" Charmy asked, trying his best to not sound completely disgusted, but was failing as the honey bee felt sick to his stomach.

The echidna just kept screaming until Aerial heard a word that pierced her.

"THIEF!"

Everyone looked at each other then at Knuckles.

"Knuckles… Knuckles who did this? Who did this to you?" Aerial questioned as she found a towel on the ground and placed it on the strange mark on Knuckles' head.

When the towel was put on the echidna's head, he stopped screaming and his violet eyes seemed darker than usual as he stared at Aerial, "Wouldn't you like to know that you thief!?"

Aerial hid the huge amount of hurt that came from his question and seemed confused instead.

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything."

Knuckles' eyes then changed back to their normal shade of violet and that's when he passed out. Vector looked at Espio who looked at Charmy. No one seemed to know what exactly happened, and all they knew was that someone who was a thief did this to him. That's when the Chaotix's eyes landed on Storm and Aerial.

The only thought that passed between the duo avian was this: _"We didn't do it."_

---

It seemed like eternity had passed until Jet finally stopped running along with everyone else. The hawk had to admit that he was exhausted and he wondered what was going to happen to Storm and Aerial now that people suspected all of them of being the thieves. The larger thought that ran in his head was this: Why weren't they suppose to ever meet the Chaos Riders? It was made clear by Silver that the Disaster Diamonds weren't suppose to exist, and it was also made clear that the Disaster Diamonds were powerful, but Jet couldn't wrap his mind around not meeting the Chaos Riders. That would've met never meeting his half sister Aerial, or anyone else for that fact.

Jet sighed out of his clustered thoughts; he was never going to get any sleep just wondering about "what ifs" and how things could've changed because of those what ifs.

The hawk looked around him; there were people lying on the ground sleeping, Silver however wasn't. Even in the night time atmosphere, the hedgehog stood out like a sore thumb with his silver fur sticking out against the night sky. Then again Silver just teleported them to an abandoned place and that seemed good enough for him. But he couldn't stand the fact that Silver wasn't sleeping, and like a few people in the group, he didn't quite trust him yet.

Silver sat in a tree, looking at the dark sky that lingered over them; his mind was elsewhere when Jet climbed up the tree and said, "Hey Silver."

Out of pure surprise, Silver jumped and almost fell out of the tree until he used his psychokinetic powers to lift him back up in the tree. He looked at Jet with wide gold eyes and tilted his head, "Um. Hi Jet."

Silence passed between the duo and that silence alone was enough to irritate the crap out of Jet.

"So… you come from the future… what's it like?"

The hedgehog seemed thoughtful, "Well since the Iblis has been defeated… it's actually quite peaceful. Not much really changes within the next few hundred years except the people who inhibit Mobius."

"Is Sonic still around?"

"Sure he is…"

Jet looked at Silver, "Really?"

"Yeah. Well Sonic gets older like the rest of us, but Shadow didn't want to lose Sonic because Sonic is his rival and all... so he took a sample of Sonic's DNA and cloned him. Only this clone won't exactly age as fast as the real Sonic did," Silver explained.

"… You probably shouldn't be telling me any of this. You know that right?"

"How come? You already changed the history books in the future by meeting the Chaos Riders, me telling you a few things aren't going to signal the end of the world. Besides, I have a plan in which you will forget this conversation anyways. No point in not telling you everything right?"

As Jet listened to Silver, he couldn't help but wonder if he would still be around in the future, then he sighed; most likely not. The hawk though then asked, "What do the history books say about us meeting the Chaos Riders?"

"They said that you met your half sister maybe a day or two ago and that you guys got along fairly well. Then they say Aerial's airship crashed, separating Aerial and Storm from the rest of you. That's all I wound up reading until I saw the underlining cause of those events: the Disaster Diamonds."

"You seem to know a hell a lot about these Disaster Diamonds Silver… what exactly is their purpose?"

"Purpose?" Silver seemed confused as he said it.

Silence ensued as the hedgehog stared at the sky and sighed, "Does everything need a direct purpose?"

Jet wasn't sure how to respond except by just listening to the hedgehog.

"Those Diamonds were a result of me travelling back here once before, I'm not quite sure exactly how it happened but my appearance triggered something. It seems to me like the Diamonds only exist because I existed long enough to travel back in time to see Sonic and Shadow again. I served an indirect purpose for the gems… and I don't know who or what the Diamonds will exactly affect as time goes on… so… does everything need a purpose?"

Jet blinked, usually he would've told Silver to give him the shorter version of what he just said but he actually started wondering what everyone's purpose was. He knew his was to be the leader of the Babylon Rogues, that Aerial's was to be the Chaos Riders' leader and so forth… but why did he feel like everything was out of place?

Silver noticed Jet's thoughtful look and questioned, "Is there anything else you need to know?"

"One thing… … Do I ever get married?"

The hedgehog laughed, "Of course."

"To who though?"

"And I thought I was the naïve one. You'll know when the time comes… but is there anything else that doesn't involve you guessing who your future wife will be?"

The hawk finally gave up on asking questions and shook his head.

"Thanks for talking to me by the way Silver it was-"

"Hold up a second."

Jet froze climbing down the tree and just looked confused.

"I have yet to erase this night's conversation out of your head."

"And how exactly are you gonna do that?" Jet questioned. That was the wrong question to ask as Silver's fist met with Jet's head. As the hawk was falling to the ground, unconscious, Silver used his psychokinetic powers to gently put him back where he was last seen. The hedgehog smiled as he looked back up in the sky.

"That's how."

---

"This sucks," Storm muttered as he crossed his arms and sat on the couch along with Aerial.

"We mirror the same feelings at the moment Alba… I'm just confused as to what exactly happened to Knuckles. I mean we didn't do anything but still the Chaotix suspect us of doing something wrong."

The albatross sighed and nodded, "Let's just hope that they can steer this away from us… I rather not be accused of something like this."

"Agreed."

Their words died in the air and left a soundless atmosphere as the Chaotix were in Vector's room, inspecting it for any clues and left the duo to keep themselves entertained. Just as Aerial was about to say something she stopped and put a hand gently on her stomach.

Storm noticed this, "Something wrong?"

"No… the baby just kicked…"

Storm stayed quiet until he stated, "I thought we were hatched, not born like everyone else."

Aerial shrugged, "I'm not good with biology or anything… who knows right? Anything is possible I guess."

"Suppose so."

Aerial was about to say something until a crash was heard, and then a string of curses that most likely came from Vector himself. Then the sound of Charmy doing his trade mark cry sounded through the building, making Storm and Aerial wonder what the heck was going on.

"CHARMY! GET BACK HERE!" Vector roared angrily as Charmy flew past the duo and Vector darted as fast as he could, which unfortunately wasn't very fast. Then the duo Chaotix members ran back upstairs and by the time this scene was done, the duo avians were laughing.

Suddenly the atmosphere seemed sinister, evil like even and the laughter stopped as Aerial shivered.

"I have a bad feeling right now."

"Me too."

The duo got up and started heading for the stairs until the window in the living room shattered and a small white orb appeared.

"What the-"

Storm didn't get to finish his sentence as the orb released light lavender smoke into the air and everything turned dark. Aerial fell to the ground, unconscious and that's when Storm realized what the gas was; knock out gas.

The albatross tried to force himself to stay conscious but as he heard the heavy thuds of the Chaotix, Storm found himself on the ground and losing consciousness. As his world turned dark he saw a pair of deep violet eyes stare right at him, and he wondered who they belonged to. By the time he wondered that, he was unconscious.

**---**

**Hey guys! Alright so here's the chapter for Chaos Riders. As usual I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I would like to hear from you guys. It's nice to get reviews for this kind of thing and every review counts.**


	12. Accused Part Two

Hey guys! Okay I think I'm on a major role if I've managed to update Last Stand and Chaos Riders so many times over the summer… yeah I'm crazy, you guys should know this by now. But that is not the point I am making, I have yet another chapter of Chaos Riders to introduce to you guys! Like always, hope you guys like it and please tell me what you guys think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her OCs: Aerial the hawk, Flame the swallow, Beacon/Pride the sparrow, Jack the Crow/Sparrow Hybrid, and Trill the Raven. Dusk the Hedgehog belongs to Mariko-ai-chan (Mariko the Unemployed Ninja) and forever will.

I present you guys with chapter twelve!

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: Accused Part Two**

Ever woke up one morning and had the sun shine right in your eyes and made you hide under your covers mumbling "it's too early to get up"? That's what Jet felt like as a hand was on his shoulder, shaking him. He opened his eyes and saw Wave and the blinding sunlight that made him put an arm over his blue eyes and groan.

"What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"It's almost eleven in the afternoon."

At this news, Jet shot up into a sitting position and stared at Wave as though she had mistaken the time; but the look she gave him convinced him that it really was eleven in the afternoon. The hawk groaned as he stood up and dusted himself off; but as he did that his head rang with pain as though Wave had whacked him over the head with her wrench of doom. Of course he knew that Wave wouldn't do that without a valid reason, which most of the time Wave could dig up a valid reason almost every time.

"About time you woke up."

Jet turned toward the voice to see Silver leaning against the large tree he had sat in the previous night. The silver hedgehog's gold eyes danced with slight panic and worry, and this made Jet wonder what was going on.

Silver walked toward Jet and seemed to hesitate in telling Jet what was happening. The hedgehog distracted himself by looking at everyone else that was slowly rising from their slumber and standing on their two feet.

"Okay Silver, mind updating Jet on what's going on?"

The hedgehog's eyes locked onto Wave who said that, then they averted toward Jet who was still confused. He cleared his throat and sighed.

"Jet… do you happen to know a raven named Trill?"

At the name, Jet's blue eyes widened and he stared at Silver as though he was a madman. The name struck a hard chord with him since that was the girl that his best friend once liked until one day he decided she wasn't the perfect girl, despite her looks. He could remember her silver eyes, and how in the darkest scenes then they'd appear a different color, and gain an overall sinister appearance. Jet could remember only that much about Trill, but that's when he shook himself out of the flash backs of his past and focused on Silver.

"Sure I do. She was a complete drama queen back where I was growing up to be the leader of the Babylon Rogues… I don't know much about her except that Storm used to like her."

Wave seemed shocked by this news along with Jack; Jet noticed this and blinked.

"What? You didn't think that Storm told me this kind of thing?"

"What majorly surprises me is the fact that Storm actually told you about a crush he had a long time ago…"

"Did she like him back?" Jack questioned as he peered up at Jet.

Jet wasn't sure if it ever got any farther than Trill talking to Storm in the usual cruel tone of voice that always sounded so degrading. The hawk was about to say "no" until Beacon suddenly appeared on his extreme skates and skidded to a stop next to Silver.

"I don't think it worked at all; if it did then Storm wouldn't be with the Babylon Rogues in the first place," the sparrow explained as he looked at Jet for approval.

He nodded, "Yea that's right."

Silver sighed, "Anyways, can we please get back on track?"

"Okay so you wanted to know if we knew Trill, so what if we do? That doesn't really change anything even if we do right?"

The hedgehog sighed and that's when Wave suddenly remarked, "This really does change things… doesn't it?"

"Yes. First the Babylon Rogues meet the Chaos Riders now Aerial and Storm are potentially in danger."

"How exactly are they?" Jet asked almost as soon as Silver was done saying that.

The young hawk was met with glances from Wave and the others that seemed to be curious as to why he'd ask that so quickly. The question was on everyone's mind, but he was the one who had the guts to say it so swiftly, especially in a panicky tone. Silver seemed to be the most curious out of the group, but his shock wasn't as visible as everyone else's.

Silver just sighed as he turned around, "… We're heading to Westopolis. If we get there by sometime today then we'll be able to save them."

"They're in Westopolis?"

"Yes."

"What kind of danger are they in damn it!? Tell me!" Jet practically screamed at Silver; the feeling of not knowing something was clawing at him, yelling in the sea of unknown things that needed to be learned in the near future.

Silver shook his head as his gold eyes looked at Jet, "I would tell you… but if I did… that could upset the balance of-"

The hawk looked about ready to murder Silver and the hedgehog read the look almost as fast as he first saw it. Silver stopped himself from making Jet anymore frustrated.

"Couldn't you just tell us what's going on?" Wave quietly said for a change.

Jet seemed shocked that Wave was capable of talking in such a sincere, soft voice; and Silver seemed ready to tell them until he looked up and dark clouds began to gather over them. They all looked up at the sudden appearance of the storm clouds and that's when Silver pushed everyone toward the tree with his psychokinetic powers.

"GET OUT OF HERE!"

The urgency lingered in Silver's voice and that wrapped around Jack's mind like a song that you can't get out of your head. Jack then saw white orbs falling from the cloud and that's when he found himself thinking back to when he used to have those in his room-

Swiftly, Jack grabbed onto Jet's and Wave's hands and started to drag them away.

"We need to get out of here! And fast!"

Wave and Jet seemed confused but when Beacon flew right past the duo, they figured it must've been bad. The duo grabbed their extreme gears and darted away from the scene, onward to Westopolis.

Silver saw them leave and he smiled to himself; his mission was complete but even as the psychokinetic barrier surrounded him, protecting him from the white orbs that exploded on contact with anything, he felt like he was going to collapse.

_"I didn't even use my powers and now I feel drained… how?"_

That was the only thing that ran through Silver's mind and it was also the very thought that kept him alert for anything abnormal. What he didn't expect was to feel the force of an explosion from behind him. The shield that protected him from harm faded away and the blast from numerous other bombs made him scream in agony; the power ripped through him, leaving him with deep gashes on his back and shoulders.

Silver fell to the ground after the bombs stopped falling from the strange cloud and he was gasping as he tried to get up, but couldn't. He turned on his back, feeling the sting of pain tear into his nerves, and then everything started to go numb. His vision was getting blurry but it wasn't enough to stop him from seeing a dark cloaked figure approach him.

"W-Who-"

He couldn't finish his sentence as the figure grabbed Silver by the neck and lifted him off the ground with slight ease; the sound of his airless gasps were enough to make him black out, but as his heart raced inside of his chest, Silver knew that if he didn't do something then he wouldn't make it out of this. He raised his hand weakly toward the figure and he felt the hand that was wrapped around his neck release and he heard two thuds. The first thud was of him falling into the ground that was stained with his blood, and the second was of the figure hitting the old oak tree that Silver claimed to be his bed in the previous night.

Taking his chance, Silver used his powers to make himself levitate and he shot off in the distance like a speeding bullet. The dark cloaked figure stood up and removed the hood to reveal a raven whose bangs covered the right side of her face, and silver eyes that watched the fleeing hedgehog make his escape. She smiled to herself and giggled with a hint of insanity added.

"One down… Three more to go," the raven whispered as she giggled again and vanished just as a powerful gust of wind passed her.

---

The empty darkness that lingered inside the building that was home to the Chaotix Detective Agency seemed to scream the kidnapper's name; but the words fell on deaf ears as Espio was the first one to wake up after that surprise attack by Vector and Charmy. The chameleon rubbed his head as he made a mental note.

"Don't let those two run around and try to stop them both at the same time," he muttered as he stood up from the ground of Vector's room. As he looked around, Espio couldn't help but to ask, "… Where did they go?"

Espio suddenly covered where his nose would be as he smelled something horrible; it didn't rank in with the stench of rotten eggs but it almost outranked the smell of skunk spraying you. He darted out of the room only to see that the hallways were coated with a bright white powder that had footprints that Espio knew too well; those were Knuckles' footprints.

"OW!!!!"

Espio heard the cry of pain and he instantly ran down the stairs and saw Charmy holding onto his arm as he flew around frantically crying. The chameleon sweat dropped as he caught the hyperactive bee and brought him over to the couch only to see that it had been turned over. He put the bee in the recliner instead and inspected the bee's arm. As Charmy cried even harder as Espio poked it he came up with the conclusion that it was broken.

"What happened? Did Vector-"

"Espio! They're gone!"

He blinked, confused by what Charmy meant by "they're gone" until memories of what previously happened entered his mind.

"You mean Storm and Aerial are gone?"

"S-S-So is Vector! Vector was chasing me then I hit something and fell to the ground and I smelled something bad so I covered my nose and held my breath for a long time. Then that's when Knuckles threw a white thing down and smoke appeared and Storm and Aerial fell to the ground unconscious. Vector was about to punch him but he missed and fell to the ground. It was so scary!" Charmy explained as he wiped his tears away from his face.

Espio could only fall into the trap of the silence that seemed to have made its residence in their home. The chameleon looked at Charmy and he then asked, "Knuckles did this?"

Charmy nodded.

"Why do you ask Espio?"

"I think we have an imposter in our midst," Espio replied quietly as he took out a roll of bandages and started wrapping Charmy's arm in a mini cast.

"An imposter? Who posed as Knuckles?"

This made Espio stop for a mere second before he resumed addressing Charmy's broken arm and that's what made Espio wonder.

Knuckles wasn't capable of doing any of this, and the strange behavior of him could explain the strange disappearance of Vector, Storm and Aerial… but if Knuckles wasn't responsible for this… who was?

---

_Slap!_

That was the first sound that Storm heard as he started to gain consciousness. Judging by how everything was still moving, he could tell that he was being moved around. As his eyes looked down, he realized that his red echidna rival was the one carrying him.

"Kn-Knuckles?!"

Knuckles looked at Storm and sighed as he sent a glare at the albatross. It was the glint in the echidna's eyes that sent Storm danger signs and the albatross looked around him swiftly and didn't see Aerial anywhere.

"Aerial? Aerial! Are you here? Aer-"

_BANG!_

Storm fell silent as the punch collided with his beak and the sick taste of blood flooded his mouth. But he ignored the disgusting taste to hear a female walking beside them.

The figure was concealed under a cloak of darkness that made Storm wonder if she was a witch of some sort, but he shook the idea from his head. Witch? What was he thinking when he came up with that? He wasn't too sure, but the one feature that made his eyes widen in slight surprise was the silvery glint that seemed to drag Storm's attention away from his bleeding mouth to the attractive female.

A glare was enough to make the albatross to stop staring at the figure.

"Don't ever stare at me you inferior being," the figure said; her voice soft but as hard as a knife. Storm recognized the voice from somewhere, and when the sound of a door opening was heard, he dragged his attention toward the door and that's when he saw Aerial strapped to a table, Vector ready to kill someone, and Knuckles chained to the same wall… wait…

"Wh-wh-what?!?!" Storm yelled out.

The figure slapped Storm out of anger, "SHUT UP!"

"Welcome to the club of the captured birdbrain," Knuckles greeted in a very furious tone.

Storm was about to give Knuckles a nasty remark until Storm felt metal gripping onto his wrists and he felt himself dangling about a foot from the floor. He looked at who he thought was Knuckles at first only to see a white dove in his place.

"Clarity, go and get the Disaster Diamond please."

The dove sent a look that seemed almost apologetic toward Storm and everyone else as she darted into another room. The figure walked up to Storm and the hood fell, revealing the last person that Storm would've ever expected to see again.

"T-T… Trill…"

**---**

**And that's it for this chapter! Wow, I think this is the longest chapter I've managed to write for Chaos Riders, awesome right? I hope you guys liked it. It took me a while to think of how I was going to make this all work out, but I think I got it to work out. Alright as always please tell me if you liked the chapter or not, and expect another update on this story soon.**


	13. Jet's Lost Crush

Hey guys! Alright so here's another chapter of Chaos Riders. Sorry about the delay, but its here and ready to be read! So like always, I hope you guys enjoy it and please tell me what you think of it. Now here's the usual, annoying disclaimer that people wish they didn't have to write every time they have to put up a new chapter.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her usual OCs: Aerial the Hawk, Beacon/Pride the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, Jack the Crow/Sparrow Hybrid, Trill the Raven and Clarity the Dove. Dusk the Hedgehog belongs to Mariko-ai-chan (Mariko the Unemployed Ninja) forever and that's how it shall remain.

I present you with chapter thirteen.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: Jet's Lost Crush**

The smile that crossed Trill's face sent a shiver down the albatross's spine and he felt his heart scream in confusion. It had been years since he had last seen Trill, and he wished he hadn't seen her again, especially not now.

It was obvious that Trill had changed physically, with her silver eyes gaining a more cunning appearance, her head held high with overconfidence, and with her figure truly being expressed. Storm reminded himself not to stare at Trill and he averted his gaze onto the floor. Then he remembered that he wasn't alone in the room; he looked toward the pair that were chained to the wall beside him. Vector looked unconscious… but yet it didn't really seem like he was… was it an act? Storm would never know, but he looked toward the echidna that was just dying to deliver another harsh remark at the albatross only to stay silent when Clarity the Dove returned.

"Well? Did you get it or not?"

The dove looked like she was about to cry as she shook her head, "I-I-It's not there… I triple checked and I couldn't find it at all…"

Clarity seemed to shrink in size as she looked ready to get hit. The hit that the dove had been expecting never arrived and Clarity looked at Trill with wide eyes.

"No matter," Trill replied in a voice that was laced with anger that was being restrained. "Not a problem…"

Clarity blinked as she innocently stared at Trill with her sapphire eyes. That's when the shouting began.

"Eh, who am I kidding? YOU LOST THE FREAKING DIAMOND?!!"

"I-I-I-"

"What's with you? I swear you're worse than the stutter machine over there!" Trill yelled as she pointed at Storm; at this Storm felt something sharp pierce his chest, almost like a knife.

"B-But I-"

"Forget it. Must I do everything myself? Stand guard and I'll be back with the Diamond."

Trill walked through the doors into the complicated series of hallways, and left Charity shaking. Knuckle's once harsh remarks died as he saw Charity collapse onto her knees and start crying. No one said a thing until a calm voice came from the table; Aerial.

"… … Hey Alba… do you remember the very first day we both met Trill? That was a day to remember forever."

Clarity wiped her eyes and looked at Aerial and Storm.

"… Alba?"

Storm nodded, expecting to give out a long explanation as to why his nickname was Alba until Clarity squealed with joy. She got up and hugged Storm who unfortunately couldn't hug her back.

"U-U-Um-"

"I knew I sensed something familiar about you. You're the big albatross that used to be head over heels for that witch of a woman and who hung out with Aerial every day," Clarity stated as she released her hug on him.

Aerial blinked, "Y-Yea that's right. How would you know something like that… Clarity was it?"

"Yes that's my name. And do you remember a young dove that used to hang around with Jet all the time?"

Both Aerial and Storm blinked in realization as to who they were talking to.

"You changed a lot. And you had a different name at the time."

Clarity smiled, "Yep. I decided to change my name when I left the main airship. Went from being Melody to Clarity, and I dyed the tips of my feathers black just to be different."

"Melody… Melody…"

"What are you thinking about Alba?"

"Why are you familiar Clarity?"

"I used to hang around Jet almost all the time, you probably seen me once or-"

Storm snapped his fingers as he really knew why she was familiar, "Crush."

"Crush? What do you mean by crush… grey fool," Knuckles said after a long silence.

"So you decided to join our-"

Knuckles' violet eyes locked onto Aerial's usual calm blue eyes and she instantly stopped herself from saying something offensive. The echidna looked bored out of his mind, though when you started to talk about something he had no idea about, you had to love how he would be driven mad by his lack of knowledge.

Storm tried to cross his arms but couldn't so instead he rolled his eyes, "Why do you have to know?"

"Because right now the dove is blushing and looks nervous so I want to know if that's a good reason to hit you when we get out of here."

Aerial and Storm looked away from Knuckles and saw that Clarity really was staring at her feet with a very noticeable blush on her face. Aerial sighed.

"You seriously don't know about crushes Knuckles? They're feelings you have toward a person that either fades away over time or you wind up being their girlfriend or boyfriend."

"Like his crush with Rouge?" Storm asked Aerial.

"Yep… and you mean the treasure hunter?"

"She's famous?"

"Nah, Flame's friends with her cousin, Avril," Aerial replied.

Knuckles blinked, "You're kidding about the whole cousin thing right?"

"I wish I was but I'm not."

Knuckles seemed even more confused and he looked ready to strangle the duo if he didn't hear the story behind the crush immediately. Aerial looked at Storm and smiled.

"You remember it better than me Alba. You tell it."

"Sorry to interrupt but shouldn't we make our plan to escape?" Knuckles said in a know-it-all tone of voice.

Clarity smiled as she took out the Disaster Diamond and hid it in her jean pocket, "She's going to stay in the room as long as she's determined to find the Diamond. We're fine."

Everyone stared at Clarity with wide eyes; she was a good actress. They shook their head and Aerial repeated her earlier statement for Storm to tell the story. Storm seemed shocked to hear Aerial suggest that, but he didn't question her decision as he began to talk about the day when Clarity was Melody and when a crush had formed.

_--- Flashback: 7 years ago---_

_"This is going to be a good day! I can feel it!" the small seven year old hawk exclaimed happily. And his voice echoed throughout the hallways as he literally dragged the twelve year old albatross away from his room._

_"J-J-Jet! C-C-Can we n-not e-explore? W-What if w-w-we get in t-t-trouble?"_

_"What's the fun in not exploring Storm? Be adventurous!"_

_Storm seemed nervous beyond belief and it was a wonder why the albatross's father decided it was best to bring Storm onto the massive airship that belonged to Jet's father. The albatross was ready to cry for his mom considering that's who he always hung out with whenever his father was away on busy matters. But as Jet kept dragging Storm down the hallway as if Storm was just a rag doll, he had to wonder why his father even wanted him here when there were other kids around for Jet to become friends with._

_Speaking of other kids, Jet pushed a door open and Storm seemed to freeze up when he saw young kids that were all by their parents' side or were chasing each other in a minor fit of rage for calling them a name or two. The young, hyperactive hawk wouldn't allow his friend to be nervous and kept dragging Storm into the room. _

_"See Storm, isn't this fun? We'll be just fine! Let's meet some people, it'll be nice!"_

_The albatross sighed, knowing there was no way to talk Jet out of it. He followed Jet as he looked at all the kids that ranged from Jet's age to a few years older than Storm._

_"Who's that?" a young sparrow asked her sibling with confusion as she pointed to Storm._

_"That's Storm the albatross."_

_Whispers erupted right then, making the albatross nervous to be in the large room where everyone else was. He felt like he didn't belong, considering the fact that he was probably the only albatross in the room. Jet looked at his overly nervous friend to see that his face was bright red._

_"Storm are you coming or are you gonna stay there all day?"_

_Storm shook his nervousness and caught up with Jet. The green hawk rolled his eyes, "Don't be nervous, everyone is just curious that's all!" he said in a reassuring tone that even sounded convincing coming from the seven year old. Storm just sighed as he kept following the hawk that seemed to talk with everyone in the room; but while Jet was talking he shivered. He had a weird feeling that they were being watched. _

_He looked around and saw a dove sitting all alone in the corner of the room. Her feathers were pure white and she wore a blue tank top with black jeans. It wasn't her clothes that caught his attention though; it was her bright blue eyes that were staring right at him and Jet. She must've noticed Storm looking at her because she turned her glance down on her feet swiftly._

_"Hey Jet… have we talked to that girl yet?"_

_The hawk blinked, "Huh? What girl?"_

_Storm pointed to the chair where he saw the dove, only to see the dove was no longer sitting there._

_"Sh-Sh-She was just th-there! I s-swear!"_

_Jet sighed, "If you don't want to be here, then we'll go. Don't act like you've seen a ghost Storm," he stated in a dull voice, meaning he was disappointed that they would have to leave._

_Just as the young hawk took Storm's hand, a small dove ran up to them. Jet studied the girl and Storm pointed at her._

_"That's the girl!"_

_The dove just tilted her head and shook her head, "It's not very nice to point… Storm was it?"_

_Storm's face turned red as he blushed, but he noticed that Jet kept staring at her as though she was a jewel on display at a museum. The dove just looked down at the ground and shifted from one foot to the other._

_"I'm sorry, um… who might you be?" _

_"I… I'm Jet. Jet the Hawk. And you are?"_

_"… Melody the Dove. I'm new here and was scared to ask anyone else… but then you guys were going so… I was wondering… could I follow you guys around? That was I can get a good sense of the place?" Melody asked quietly as Storm could see a trace of pink cross her face._

_Jet smiled as he took her hand, "Sure you can! Come on, there's a lot of things to see!"_

_"GET BACK HERE!" a silver sparrow called out angrily._

_Melody's eyes widened as she hid behind Jet and Storm, "Don't let him get me… I hit him because he called me a wimp but… he wanted to hit me back to make it even, please don't let him!"_

_Storm looked at her and couldn't believe that she could do that, and he watched as Jet got in front of both of them. The sparrow approached and fury was clearly written in his eyes.._

_"Move out of the way pipsqueak!"_

_"You have to go through me first. Storm make sure Melody's safe."_

_The albatross nodded as he guided Melody swiftly back to Jet's room. That's where they stayed for over an hour until Jet, covered in bruises and had a bleeding cut on his face, came back. Melody's eyes widened, Storm could remember, and he also remembered how she ran over to him and ordered him to lay down immediately._

_Ever since that day when Jet decided to take the hits the sparrow had to offer, Melody rarely left Jet's side. But when time came for them to depart the main airship, they had split up, hoping to meet again someday._

_--- End of Flashback ---_

"And so we always assumed that she had a crush on Jet…" Storm finished up.

"With the blush on her face, she still has the crush on him too."

Clarity shook her head, "But Aerial, you never seen me around the airship much, you were always with Alba. How'd you know?"

"Storm would tell me about it whenever he felt happy."

The dove nodded.

"That makes sense. Now that your echidna friend-"

"He's not our friend!" Storm swiftly exclaimed, earning a shocked look from Clarity.

The shocked expression soon died as she nodded and took out a key, "Alright, how about this then. Since Knuckles fell asleep with that boring story, how about I release you all and we'll dump him off somewhere in Westopolis? Might as well, besides he could probably find us again."

Storm found himself wondering how much of this Clarity actually thought about and was shocked with the plan. Then again, he wouldn't have to put up with the mutt so anything to get away from Knuckles he was in. He grinned as he nodded.

"Okay let's get out of here and dump him off somewhere."

Aerial grinned until she felt a pain in her stomach, it wasn't the baby kicking, but it was a feeling something bad was going to happen.

---

Darkness clouded the hedgehog's vision and he kept stumbling in the streets; why hadn't he stopped to rest when he had the chance to? That's right, he convinced himself if he stopped, then there was no way he'd be able to wake up. Silver's gold eyes seemed distant as they dully shined under the streetlamps, and his silver fur was stained with red gashes and he shook with every step he took.

"I have… to keep… moving… … I can't just… stop…" he told himself in a voice that could barely make it past the sound level of a whisper.

Suddenly a honey colored blur slammed into Silver, making the hedgehog fall to the cracked concrete. He weakly looked up and saw a honey bee hovering above him with wide eyes.

"ESPIO!! HELP!!" the honey bee screamed with fear.

Silver remembered seeing a chameleon come into view, and then the darkness completely took over as the chameleon asked him in a disbelieving voice, "Silver? What are you doing here?"

"You know him?"

"Yeah, we worked together during the disappearing chao incident. Come on, he needs to get to a hospital and fast," Espio replied swiftly as he put Silver's arm around his shoulder as Charmy did the same with the other arm and together the duo darted toward what seemed like sanctuary at the time… only to find, there was a bigger problem than Silver's health.

**---**

**Yes finally! Chapter Thirteen of Chaos Riders is finally finished! Okay that took much longer than I originally expected and I'm sorry for the major delay. Though I hope you enjoyed it and please tell me your thoughts.**


	14. Diamond Mayhem Part One

Hey guys! Alright here's another chapter of Chaos Riders for you nice, fellow readers! As usual I hope you guys like it and enjoy it, as well as give your opinion on it. Everything counts after all.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does own her OCs: Aerial the Hawk, Beacon/Pride the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, Jack the Crow/Sparrow Hybrid, Trill the Raven and Clarity the Dove. Dusk the Hedgehog belongs to Mariko-ai-chan (Mariko the Unemployed Ninja) and shall always belong to her.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Diamond Mayhem Part One**

"Alright, you were right Clarity. The Diamond really is gone. But that's fine, we've got the… HEY!" Trill's cold voice echoed throughout the empty room. The raven looked around to see no hanging albatross and echidna, or even a hawk that was suppose to be strapped onto the table.

Trill's eyes widened then narrowed as she clenched her hands into fists, "Why that no good TRAITOR!!!"

The power of the fist that slammed into the wall, made the place shake for a moment before it stopped. Trill smirked and laughed suddenly as she walked out of the room, "Cross me why don't you? But now you'll face my wrath," she laughed happily as the doors closed behind her, "No one shall live after escaping me."

---

A smile spread across her beak as she twirled around while she walked next to Storm and Aerial; Clarity seemed like she was the happiest person on the face of Mobius. To Aerial and Storm, this wasn't much of a surprise considering the fact that while Clarity was with Trill, she would get hit and yelled at. What came as a surprise was that even after the hour from when they abandoned Knuckles in a nearby alley to now as they walked down the streets of Westopolis, no one really had spoken about what they would do. All that Storm's eyes were on was the Diamond that was in Clarity's pocket.

"Once again, thank you for letting me accompany you two to find your friends," Clarity said as she turned around and started walking backwards, talking to Storm and Aerial with happiness dripping from her every word.

"A-Anytime… I-I-It was n-no problem."

"What's with the stuttering Alba?"

"N-N-Nothing."

Aerial looked at the albatross with such an intense stare that any normal person would freeze up, of course Clarity and Storm weren't normal people as they kept walking.

"Th-The Diamond…"

Clarity took it out, "This? What about it?"

"Which one is it?"

"Huh?"

"There are three… One that's a medical gifted, one that's combat gifted and the last one is used for multi-purposes," Aerial explained.

The dove looked at the Diamond and shrugged as if it really wasn't a big deal.

"I'm not sure to be honest. Trill found it and she went a bit weird."

"What do y-you m-mean a b-b-bit weird?"

"She just became obsessed over where this Diamond came from and stuff," Clarity stated calmly as she tossed the Diamond in the air.

Storm easily caught it and sighed with relief. The dove tilted her head and smiled.

"You guys can have it. I have no use for something like that, besides I have no reason to hang with you guys anymore."

This made the duo stop, "So you're going to leave?" Aerial had the courage to ask.

A simple shrug was Clarity's response to the question. The hawk took a step toward Clarity.

"Do you care if I came with you?"

"Huh?"

"I'm not really useful… I can't fight and I can't do much of anything. I'm just a person who said, 'hey I want to make a difference some way' and wound up with a person like Trill."

"S-So? It's fine… we'll find s-something you're good a-at," Storm quickly said in a reassuring voice.

Clarity was about to say something until a piercing yell was heard in the streets. Storm grabbed Aerial and Clarity's arms and dragged them into an alley to hide. Their eyes watched as a small honey bee and a purple chameleon started carrying a silver hedgehog. They blinked and looked at each other.

"What's Charmy and Espio doing?" Aerial whispered quietly.

"I-I d-d-don't know… what do you th-think h-h-ha-"

Clarity made a "be quiet now" motion and looked at the hedgehog with careful eyes. She turned back toward the duo, "Go and help them. I have a feeling something's going to happen."

"What will you do then?"

"Me? Simple, I will find Trill and say I tried to stop you guys from escaping and failed. So that way you'll have an ally within enemy boundaries. Sound fair?"

_"It sounds more cunning than fair. But… right now we don't have much of a choice if Trill is going to come after us,"_ Aerial thought as she nodded.

The dove gave a casual wave and ran out from the alley and down toward Trill's hideout in an urgency that could've made anyone think she was running late to meet a friend. The duo avians watched as Charmy and Espio walked toward the direction of a hospital and they nodded as they walked out from their hiding spot and slowly started to follow.

---

The Westopolis General Hospital stood right in the middle of the city and people tried their best to avoid walking near it as if they would catch a disease from the ill just by walking too close. Of course Espio and Charmy could care less if they got sick, they had to make sure Silver was okay and would live from his wounds.

As they approached the front doors, Charmy asked, "What do you think happened to him Espio?"

"I don't know it looks like he was attacked by a thief or something."

Charmy seemed to accept that but his questions kept rolling into Espio without any sign of letting up. But his voice was muted as Silver groaned.

"Silver are you okay?"

Silver's gold eyes weakly opened and he seemed to glance around until he realized he was being carried and pushed the duo away from him slightly with his powers. He didn't stand up straight or appear strong; instead he looked like he was going to pass out again.

"What happened to you?" Charmy asked as his honey colored eyes widened in shock.

"Ugh… what _did _happen?" Silver replied as he held his head with one hand and looked around.

"Wait you don't remember anything?"

Silver spent a few minutes of thinking until his eyes widened and he shouted, "Where are the Babylon Rogues and the Chaos Riders?!"

Espio tilted his head, "I'm not sure…"

"We have to find them before… ow."

The ninja caught Silver before he hit the pavement and Espio and Charmy sweat dropped as they looked at the unconscious hedgehog.

"Let's hurry."

"Right!"

The doors opened and the smell of antibiotics and disease slammed into the duo as they carried their wounded friend into the massive building. The walls were pure white, the furniture was a cream color that only barely stood out from the white walls, the tables were light brown and the floor was a white marble color; it was as if the color was drained from the rooms and replaced with white bricks and white floorings. Charmy pulled his attention away from the whiteness of the place and flew up to the receptionist.

"Welcome to the Westopolis General Hospital, how can I help you?" the receptionist asked politely as her silver eyes looked at Charmy.

"Our friend is hurt. He might've been attacked by thieves!"

"By thieves! Oh my chaos! Here's what we're going to do, take your friend into the waiting room there and I'll be right with you to escort you to a doctor. Does that sound alright?"

Charmy nodded as he flew back over to Espio and Silver and told them of what the receptionist told him. Espio nodded and the trio walked into the waiting room; all the while the receptionist watched them with her silver eyes.

---

About thirty minutes passed as the receptionist sat in her seat wondering when they would arrive. A large smirk spread across her face when she saw the front doors finally opening to reveal Aerial and Storm. The duo walked over to her and seemed concerned.

"Excuse me… have you… um seen our friends come through her by chance? One's a purple chameleon and the other one is a honey bee."

Storm and Aerial's eyes were wide as they recognized the silver eyes. The receptionist stood up and smiled.

"Of course, they're in the waiting room. They brought in a silver hedgehog that was wounded."

"Thanks," Aerial quickly said as she grabbed Storm's hand and literally dragged him into the waiting room where they suddenly stopped.

Hanging from the ceiling was a bound and gagged Clarity but her eyes told them everything. Trill was behind this. Storm and Aerial ran toward Clarity but her muffled shrieks made them freeze.

"What's up?"

Clarity muffled speech nearly drove Aerial and Storm crazy trying to figure out what she was saying. Aerial held up a finger and realized that besides Clarity hanging from the ceiling there wasn't anyone else in the room.

"Where'd Espio and Charmy go?"

The dove gave Aerial a look that seemed to say, "Do I look like I can tell you where they went at the moment?" Storm sighed with annoyance by this and looked around.

"Fine let us look for them then," the hawk replied as she started walking around the room, earning some muffled cries from Clarity. Aerial stopped and looked up at Clarity, "Okay why are you freaking out? Was it something I said or did?"

Clarity looked at Storm then at Aerial and swung around from the rope that held her upside down. Aerial blinked and glanced toward Storm to see that the albatross was looking at a kunai that sat on the chair neatly, as if Espio just put it down for a second and went somewhere.

"I don't get it. Where did they go?"

"I-I don't know."

Storm sighed, "Let's just get her down from th-there before-"

"Before I realize that Clarity betrayed me, let you all escape then expected to be taken back in to serve as your little spy within enemy lines or some sort of bs like that?"

The duo avians froze as their eyes met with Trill in a doctor's outfit. Trill giggled as she took out a remote and smirked, "Welcome to my domain. Where no one escapes from me and your game of collect the Disaster Diamonds is over!"

Trill pressed the button and the duo braced themselves for whatever came at them. Seconds turned into minutes and the duo looked around with confused expressions on their faces; obviously Trill was in the same predicament as she turned around, searching for the method of attacking she chose. Again the button was pressed and the raven shrieked in anger and irritation.

"Why isn't it working damn it!!?"

Aerial wasn't sure whether she should be scared or just sit down in one of the cream colored chairs and laugh at Trill's attempt at scaring the crap out of them. However the hawk didn't move from her spot next to Storm.

Storm suddenly pulled out the Diamond and it started to glow.

"Alba, what are you doing?"

"I-I'm not d-doing it I s-swear!" Storm replied nervously as the Diamond levitated slightly out of his huge hands and glowed even brighter until a loud series of explosions were heard heading right for them.

The flashes of orange and red flames came into view as Storm grabbed Aerial and dragged her farther into the room. Trill let out a loud, ear piercing scream as she dashed away from the explosions that followed her like a homing attack as she kept running around the room. Storm and Aerial watched as the explosions suddenly just stopped and the Diamond fell onto the ground, no longer glowing. Trill stopped running; Storm and Aerial looked at each other then at Trill before the three pairs of eyes locked onto the Diamond.

What came next could only be described as shout filled race to get the Disaster Diamond first. Storm lunged for it but failed when Trill picked it up and crashed onto the ground. Trill turned around, but let out a shriek as she hit the floor and Aerial was on top of her, grabbing onto the Diamond.

"GET OFF!"

"Give me the Diamond first!"

Storm blinked in shock as he watched the duo females fighting for the Diamond that suddenly began to glow yet again.

"GUYS!"

"WHAT IS IT?!" both Aerial and Trill yelled at the same time.

Their question was answered though when the Diamond's glow engulfed them both and Storm reached to grab onto Aerial; when he did, everything was blinded by the light.

---

"And that's how you guys got here?" Espio asked as he looked at Jet, Wave, Beacon, Jack, and Silver.

"Oddly enough yeah."

"What about Silver though? Shouldn't we get him medical treatment?"

Wave sighed as she pulled out a vial and poured the liquid onto the fallen hedgehog. Seconds later, Silver sat up with wide eyes.

"What happened?!"

"Where do we begin? Oh right. For starters, we're inside a freaking Disaster Diamond, and Wave just healed you with some weird stuff."

The swallow suddenly whacked Beacon over the head with her wrench, "It's a heal all liquid I've been working on for the past year and a half and just be glad it worked!"

"Whatever you say."

Silver just blinked, "Run that first part by me again."

Beacon sat down in front of Silver and slowly stated, "We. Are. Inside. A. Freaking Disaster Diamond!"

The hedgehog shot up to his feet and looked around, only to see it was dark violet inside and there were bean bag chairs around and a small little tv in the middle of the small room. Silver blinked.

"This is inside of a Disaster Diamond? How did we get here?"

Everyone looked at Silver with dull expressions, "We're here thanks to a crazy raven named Trill who had another Disaster Diamond and got us in here."

"Has anyone tried to contact anyone outside the Diamond?"

"How can we?!"

Silver sighed, "I read in a book that these Diamonds are able to connect with the minds of those outside if we yell loud enough."

"A book?"

"Forget it, I'll explain it later. For now let's see if we can contact… um… your friends there… um… Aerial and Storm right?"

Jet got up along with Beacon and was about to yell until three screams were heard, and then three figures landed on top of Jet. Storm was on top of Jet, unconscious, Trill was on top of Storm with a fearful expression, and on top of the pile was Aerial who landed on her back instead of her stomach like everyone else did.

"Huh? Where are we?"

Jet glared at Silver and the hedgehog sighed.

"Well… there goes that option down the drain."

**---**

**Alright there's the first part of the three part chapter of Chaos Riders! Yes I decided to split this chapter up, due to the fact it would've been much longer if I hadn't cut it off here. Anyways I hope you guys like it and please tell me what you think. **


	15. Diamond Mayhem Part Two

Hey guys! Despite the internet being gone, and a time limit on how long I can stay on my friend's computer, I have completed the chapter to Chaos Riders miraculously! So as usual I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does own her usual OCs: Aerial the Hawk, Beacon/Pride the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, Jack the Crow/Sparrow Hybrid, Clarity the Dove, and Trill the Raven. Dusk the Hedgehog belongs to Mariko-ai-chan (Mariko the Unemployed Ninja) forever and always will.

Here it comes!

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: Diamond Mayhem Part Two**

The inside of the Diamond seemed like a strange version of the inside of a genie's lamp, but Aerial knew that they weren't in a genie's domain; they were in something much sinister and much more dangerous than any lamp. Aerial took in the fact that there were bean bag chairs settled all around and the small little tv in the middle made the hawk think that instead they weren't in a Diamond but in a living room. Dark violet was the color that engulfed the room and made it darker than it really needed to be, the tv was the only thing that really provided a light even though it was very dull and still dark enough to trip over things if you didn't know where they were.

"Well… there goes that option down the drain," was the first string of words that Aerial made out as she jumped off of Trill and Storm.

"You think? Aerial?"

She turned around and saw Jet on the bottom of their little dog pile and held back a small giggle of how cute Jet looked under everyone and how his angry look just added to the cute factor.

"Y-yes?"

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!!" Jet cried out in frustration.

Aerial rolled her eyes as she walked over to her half brother and pulled him out in a flowing movement that would make you wonder if it really was Aerial. The hawk looked at her brother who seemed to be shock on how quickly he was freed.

"You're pretty strong Ace..."

"I forgot my own strength huh?"

Jet just stared at Aerial then at Storm and Trill. His glare returned as he saw Trill and when he stood up, the raven just got off of Storm and slowly backed away.

"You're that girl who GOT US HERE IN THE FIRST FREAKING PLACE!!"

"U-U-Um-"

"And you called Clarity a stutter machine, you're just as bad yourself," Aerial remarked as she shot a glare at Trill. For a split second, Jet and Aerial seemed like mirror images; Trill couldn't tell who was who until she saw the hoodie on Aerial.

Jet and Aerial took a step toward Trill until Jack and Beacon ran in front of the duo hawks and stopped them from doing anything.

"Get out of our way!"

"She needs to be punched a few times, maybe then she'll get her common sense back!"

Beacon shook his head, "Aerial, you're pregnant, you're not suppose to do anything like this and yet you have, who knows how the baby's health would be jeopardized if Trill struck back, and Jet, please set an example for Jack and don't do this."

Aerial blinked.

"How… did you know?"

"YOU'RE PREGNANT!?" everyone practically screamed, even Trill joined in on the shocked group that just stared at Aerial.

Sighing, Aerial nodded.

"Before I command you to sit down and don't do anything… why didn't you tell us this sooner?"

"'Cause I knew you'd overreact like this."

Wave glanced at Jet and the small tv only revealed that Jet was furious that he didn't find out sooner and that Aerial went through all that she did while being the host to a baby, meanwhile Jack looked at Beacon with wide eyes and Silver just watched what would happen next.

"You should've told us!"

"And then what? Force… no wait, "Command" me to sit down and take an easy? You know that's not my persona and you know that I can't even do that. Besides I told Storm first-"

After that small section of that sentence, Jet and Aerial began yelling at each other and everyone basically tried to stop the duo from fighting, leaving Trill wide eyed and too stunned to move. She felt a tap on her shoulder and jumped until she saw it was the chameleon and honey bee from before. She felt herself become nervous and tense as she backed away only to be stopped by Charmy.

"L-Let me-"

"Listen, I don't know what your plans were or are, but right now you're stuck here with us. If you do anything out of line we won't hesitate to hurt you," Espio explained in a cold voice that would make anyone think that he was angry.

"Why'd you do it anyways?"

Trill stayed silent and sat down.

"I'm not answering that."

Charmy stuck his tongue out at Trill but right when he did a shout of pain was heard. The trio looked at where everyone was gathered around Aerial and Jet and then there was a string of yelling then more yelps of pain.

They sighed and walked over only to see that Jet was holding his beak, blood dripping down from it, a bloody nose, and Aerial had her arms crossed.

"You're not the boss of me."

"I'm older than you though."

"Doesn't matter! I am my own person, not another one of your pawns to get rich off of these Diamonds, and I suggest not taking me being pregnant thing over-"

Aerial drew in a huge breath and sat down as she held her stomach protectively. Jet didn't come back with a smart remark but instead looked at his half sister and sat down next to her.

"How long are you… you know?"

"To be honest I'm not sure… it could be a few weeks up to a couple months."

Jet looked at Silver, "What other ways are there to get out of here?"

Silver was sitting next to the unconscious Storm and he seemed thoughtful, "Was there anyone outside?"

Trill tilted her head, "Let me think… there was Aerial… Storm… myself…"

"What about Clarity?" Aerial asked quietly as she kept her hold on her stomach.

Everyone looked at Trill then at Aerial, obviously confused by who Clarity was. Aerial sighed and looked at Jet.

"Remember Melody the Dove?"

"Sure I do, always hung around with me and stuff. My third best friend on the main air-"

"That's who Clarity is!"

Jet blinked and stayed silent. Everyone stared at Jet for a long moment before Wave said, "Well?"

"Holy crap… Melody's still around?"

"It's actually now Clarity but can we please have this realization and reunion later after we get out of here?"

Aerial waved Beacon's worried question away and stated, "It's not bad now," as she stood up and slowly moved her hands away from her stomach. "See? All better. Besides Clarity is tied upside down from the ceiling and can't really do anything even if she heard us right?"

Obviously no one had thought of that as they blinked and looked from one person to the next. Aerial sat down next to the unconscious albatross and shook her head.

"Besides, as long as Trill is here, then nothing bad will happen."

Trill's silver eyes widened and Aerial looked at the raven with a confusion plastered on her face.

"Right?"

---

Shock didn't even explain what she was feeling; more like a cross between just plain shock and pure envy. Clarity was still tied upside down from the ceiling and she could hear the blood pounding in her head as she looked at the Diamond that sat on the ground, begging for someone to pick it up and run away quickly.

"Come on guys… where did you go? There was a flash then you guys are gone and left me hanging… this would make a great story to tell… IF I EVER GET-"

"Sorry, am I interrupting anything?"

The dove blinked and turned her gaze over to an orange swallow that walked in. She wore a t-shirt that was tattered and torn, too baggy on the female swallow, tight blue jeans and she was wearing a hat backwards. Clarity then wondered what Trill did with the other doctors and nurses, even the patients but she shook her head; that didn't matter anymore, someone had come in!

"N-Not at all. Can you get me down please?"

"Um… how did you get up there?"

"I was caught off guard by an evil mistress named Trill," Clarity explained as she watched the swallow walk toward the Diamond and pick it up and comparing it to-

"Is that another Disaster Diamond?" Flame asked as she studied the two gems.

Clarity nodded, "Yea. But can you get me down please?"

"Um… sure," Flame replied as she pointed her finger toward the rope and a fire ball shot from her finger. A shriek followed and a loud thump. "Oh and watch the landing… sorry, was I a bit late on that?"

The dove laid on the ground and she held her head, "Ow! Why didn't you warn me ahead of time?"

Flame held up the two Diamonds, "I was kinda preoccupied… this is bad. None of these are the medical one."

"Bad? Why is it bad?"

"Because if I don't find the Diamond that was lost in the airship wreck then Aerial's child is going to die…"

"It's just an unborn child though, and she's still young. If this one dies then she can just have another one right?"

"That would be true if it wasn't for the fact that if the child dies then AERIAL DIES!" Flame cried out in frustration. The swallow sighed miserably as she sat on the ground holding the Diamonds.

Clarity sighed.

"How can I help you?"

"You'd help me?"

"Heck yea, no offense but Aerial's a nice gal and I rather find her rather than find her dead," Clarity stated.

"I WANNA HELP TOO!!"

Clarity blinked, "Who the fu-"

**BANG**

Flame caught Clarity who just had someone run full speed into her.

"What… the…" Clarity stopped as she saw an albino hedgehog standing in front of her with an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry about that. Flame I didn't find Aerial!"

The swallow shook her head, "Watch where you're going next time Dusk! Please forgive him, he's ignorant."

"No I'm not!"

"What does ignorant mean?"

Dusk stayed silent and he looked at the Diamonds and took a step toward them. Flame drew back the gems from him and seemed protective.

"What are you doing?" Flame questioned.

"Shh, I hear people talking."

"No duh, that's us!"

Clarity placed a calm hand on Flame's shoulder and shook her head, "I hear it too. It's like a faint whisper."

Flame fell silent and that's when her eyes widened.

"Is that you Ace?!"

There was silence then the voice became stronger, "Flame? Oh thank chaos you're alright! Is Dusk with you?"

"Yeah, dummy number two is here, is dummy number one there?"

"You mean Alba? Sure he's here… anyways; glad to hear you can hear us and keep in contact with us."

"Same here. Where are you guys though? You're nowhere in this hospital and-"

"We're in the Disaster Diamond."

"Um… seriously?"

Clarity nodded, "I saw them disappear."

"CLARITY!! WAIT UNTIL I GET OUT THERE YOU LITTLE TRAITOR!"

"WE WARNED YOU DAMN IT!" Charmy and Espio shouted at Trill then a shriek was heard. Flame and Dusk just sweat dropped as they continued to listen.

"Sorry about that," Silver said.

"I'm sorry do I know you?"

"Oh right, I'm Silver the Hedgehog. You're Flame right?"

Flame nodded.

"That's good then. Listen we can't get out of this Diamond by ourselves, we need your help."

"Just tell us what we need to do Silv," Clarity said with an excited tone.

Silver was about to say something, that much the trio knew, but what happened next seemed to be a blur. The Diamond stopped glowing and nothing was heard from the Diamond, but suddenly there was the sound of something coming toward them. Something fast. Something… really familiar to Flame, then it hit her both figuratively and literally.

It was an extreme gear she realized that just as it slammed into her and sent the Diamonds flying into the air. They were caught and the trio looked to see-

"Jet?"

On the extreme gear was indeed Jet the Hawk who glanced at the trio with his trademark smirk and started to escape. Flame's eyes widened as she charged after him on her extreme skates, leaving Dusk and Clarity behind.

Dusk looked like he was going to cry, "Why am I always left behind?!"

"I'm here."

Dusk grinned and hugged Clarity, "Thank you for not leaving me."

"Um… you're welcome. Now let's try and catch up."

"How?"

The dove grinned, "Just leave that to me, every good extreme gear racer knows one rule; never get distracted."

---

"YOU WHAT?!" everyone yelled at Trill as they stared at her with bewildered looks.

The raven looked down at her feet and sighed, "I created a robot thanks to one of the Diamonds I obtained. It has the power to morph into anyone, even to someone like Aerial or Beacon… heck it can even mimic all our looks down exactly."

"And you didn't tell us this earlier why?!"

"Because it didn't work!"

Wave blinked, "What do you mean it didn't work?"

"Well when I tried to get it to work, it just stared at me and disobeyed everything I told it to do. So I shut it down."

Wave looked at Jack and the hybrid looked like he was completely amazed.

"You created a robot?"

Trill nodded but Silver groaned, "Okay so if a robot is all that we have to worry about, then that means just a simple little fire attack from Flame will do the trick right?"

She shook her head.

"How about we beat it to death or find the off switch?"

"It still won't have any effect on it."

Aerial seemed to be thinking until Storm started to wake up and he sat up. His eyes scanned where he was then he locked eyes with Trill, "S-so this robot i-is-"

"Indestructible? No. Far from indestructible. But do you all know what happens whenever Sonic gets all the chaos emeralds and turns unstoppable thanks to his super form?" Trill asked.

Everyone looked at each other and nodded as they returned their gazes to the raven that had closed her eyes, bracing herself to get killed on the spot.

"It if comes in contact with all three Diamonds, then the robot will be stronger than Sonic's super form… and destroy anything in its path. That includes Mobius and the Diamonds."

**---**

**This is where I need an evil song to play. Now the luck for the bad guys has turned and so has the good guys' luck. With just Clarity, Dusk and Flame left to stop this robot from getting the remaining Disaster Diamond, and with everyone else trapped in the Disaster Diamond itself, can Mobius really be saved? What's the story behind the Diamonds, and will everyone ever be free of the Diamond's inner prison? Stay tuned for the next chapter of Chaos Riders. I hope you enjoyed it and please tell me what you think.**


	16. Diamond Mayhem Part Three

Hey guys! Alright, so after getting this deleted four times by my no good cousin, I have returned with this next chapter of Chaos Riders. I hope you guys enjoy it and please tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does own her usual OCs: Aerial the Hawk, Beacon/Pride the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, Jack the Crow/Sparrow Hybrid, Trill the Raven, Clarity the Dove. Dusk the Hedgehog belongs to Mariko-ai-chan (Mariko the Unemployed Ninja) and forever shall belong to her.

Here you go.

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: Diamond Mayhem Part Three**

If you had just been told that a robot that was created by a villain like Trill was after the Diamonds and that after you heard the affect it could have it if got a hold of them, what would be the first thing that you feel? Maybe you'd feel angry, shocked, enraged, or in Jack's case, admiration toward Trill for doing something that he hasn't been able to do. But the look on Storm's face was pure rage and that's when all hell broke loose and Trill's screams were heard echoing inside the Diamond.

Of course the robot that held the Diamond in his hands didn't have a clue as to why the Diamonds were screaming. He only knew that the Diamonds were powerful, and he needed the last one to become the strongest being on Mobius. And with Flame chasing after him on her extreme skates made things more interesting as he shot out of the hospital on his extreme gear and kept darting down the streets of Westopolis.

The citizens jumped off of the sidewalk when the robot and Flame flew past them, and their eyes remained large when they saw a rope of fire following the metallic orange swallow. Fire started to lick hungrily at Flame's hands and arms and she created a whip as she realized she was close enough to the robot to attack him. The whip made a fierce cracking sound as she tried to hit him and when the sound of leather hitting metal was heard she smiled as she swung again to hit him.

**Snap!**

Flame's eyes widened as the whip was snapped in two and turned into ashes. The swallow then created a large mallet that rivaled Amy Rose's and she swung at the robot. He dodged every blow with skill and precise planning; it was almost as if he knew he was going to be attacked when he stole the Diamonds.

"IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?" the robot asked with a know-it-all voice that made Flame cringe.

"Hell no, that's only the beginning!" Flame replied in a snarl as she was now next to the robot, speeding down the abandoned streets of Westopolis. But as the swallow made her attempts to stop the robot dead in his tracks, the robot was tracing the remaining Diamond to a moving target.

---

The scene that happened in the Diamond is one that shouldn't be described without cringing at the amount of pain that Trill the raven felt as she tripped and had everyone throwing punches at her and actually hit her to the point that she went unconscious, which was fine by Storm as he was the only one that stayed behind in the attack of Trill. Storm looked at Aerial who held onto her stomach again and he felt protective of her and looked at the tv in the middle of the room. It was the first time that he had bothered to look at it, and he doubted anyone else bothered to look at something that looked about ready to blow up at any second. The light was dull but he could make up images that seemed familiar. It wasn't until one building came into view that the albatross understood what he was looking at.

"What's up?" Aerial asked as she saw that his attention was glued to the tv.

Storm pointed to the building and Aerial replied with, "That's the Chaotix Detective Agency! But… how are we able to see this?"

"I-I d-dunno."

The duo continued to watch as the building flew away from them and they were the witnesses to seeing the buildings becoming blurs and suddenly flickering flames started to come into view along with a muffled voice that couldn't be heard quite well. Storm reached to turn up the volume until he realized there was no volume button. Storm watched until he felt more eyes watching the tv as well and Storm glanced behind his shoulder to see everyone was now looking at the tv.

"Where is this happening??"

"Westopolis!" Charmy cheered.

Suddenly the screen went dead and the only source of light faded into the darkness that now engulfed everyone. And with that light went the hope that they could get out of the gem that had trapped them here.

"Silver… now that we're to be doomed to stay eternity in this damn Diamond, tell us what happens next!" Jet growled as he looked toward the hedgehog.

"Um… Jet, why are you talking to Wave? I'm over here."

The hawk felt stupid as he turned around and repeated himself to Silver. The hedgehog could be heard sighing with defeat.

"You want to know what's going to happen next. I'll tell you one thing; we are going to get out of here. Everything happens for a reason…"

"Like what?" Wave asked.

Even though it was dark, everyone could almost imagine Silver smiling at this moment in time. What no one saw in the darkness was Silver's gold eyes that looked at Aerial with something that seemed like hope.

"The Chaos Riders meeting with the Babylon Rogues."

---

Everything was failing! Flame was on her last nerve as she tried to hit the runaway robot with her flaming mallet only to see that the more she tried, the more the chance of hitting him decreased. She growled out of frustration and the mallet vanished from her flaming hands. The robot wasn't just trying to get away from the swallow; it was now trying to find someone or something. Options were starting to run out for Flame and for a minute she thought that the robot would succeed in its mission and attack her once it did what it had to do.

"HEADS UP!" a loud voice boomed just as something green jumped out of an alley and the robot could be heard being punched off the extreme gear and slamming into the concrete sidewalks.

Flame skidded to a halt just to see the robot morph from its form of Jet the hawk to a metallic cat. She looked at the figure that appeared out of nowhere to see that it was Vector the crocodile.

"Hi Vector!" she cheered happily.

The robot let out a groan as the Diamonds in its hands glowed then that's when hell officially broke out. Everyone that was once trapped in these powerful gems flew out of them as though they were a jack in the box and flew into Vector and Flame. The duo that stopped the robot was buried under people galore and everyone looked very dizzy and disoriented, so it was no wonder why everyone groaned out in confusion.

Aerial was the first to come to her senses as she saw the robot dart away swiftly, both Diamonds were lying on the ground. The hawk got up from her position on top of one of the dog piles and walked toward the Diamonds.

"Hold up a second!"

Aerial stopped only inches from grabbing them and saw that Vector looked at the Diamonds as though they were poison. The hawk tilted her head as she picked up one only to earn a slight glare from the crocodile.

"You said 'hold up a second' and that's what I did. Exactly a second passed before I picked up the-"

"Now's not the time for smart ass remarks!"

Aerial blinked in surprise as Vector took the Diamond out of her hand and before Aerial got any ideas to pick up the other one, he picked that one up as well. His orange eyes studied Aerial and everyone else who slowly got up and regained their senses.

"Vector? What are you doing here?"

"That's a story for later," was his only reply as he looked at Aerial, "Do you know what danger you just put yourself?"

Danger? Aerial and danger actually equaled semi good results, or at least that's what Flame and Beacon were thinking as they watched as Aerial looked confused and shook her head. Vector sighed.

"Someone get her to a hospital."

Storm blinked, "I-Is th-there s-s-something wrong?"

"What did I do?"

Vector looked at Aerial and held up a packet of paper that had scribbled notes on it and he shoved it into her hands.

"That's the article that you last read."

Aerial's blue eyes scanned the paper that she held but she let her grip go and the paper blew in the wind and soon got stuck on the ground thanks to Beacon stepping on it. He read it and paled.

"Ace… you knew about this?"

"What did she know?" Jet asked as he snatched the paper away from the sparrow and read it out loud.

_The Disaster Diamonds are not known very well, what we do know is of problems of handling such a dangerous gem. Even just one touch could change everything about you, personality wise and perhaps even give you powers. These gems are suppose to be granted with a large source of power that, if they fall in the wrong hands, could permanently damage your well-being. Appearance differences are a common side effect of handling these Diamonds… such changes in appearances can lead to many other effects of which we have no information about._

For a while no one said anything until Silver dragged Jet next to Aerial and made them look at everyone; but as everyone did, there was no sign of any changes taking place with Aerial. No eye color changes or even feather color changes, they were exactly the same, almost like identical twins.

"But nothing has happened! So I should be fine!"

Even with Aerial sounding so confident of her well-being, Vector didn't give her the Diamonds. Silver sighed and took the Diamonds, "No offense but these belong in the future, not in the past. Allow me to take these two Diamonds back into the future and I'll come back and search for the last one alright?"

Suddenly Silver's eyes went straight to Trill who thankfully was still unconscious from her previous beating. The hedgehog looked at Espio and Charmy, "Take her to a prison and make sure she stays there, as for everyone else, go back to what you were doing before."

"But what if you don't find the Diamond?"

"I will find it, besides; you've got a child to worry about. I wouldn't want to stress you out."

The look on Aerial's face was priceless; her annoyed look of everyone being so overcautious around her began to show completely and several of the people there chuckled nervously. Aerial threw up her hands.

"Fine… you'll contact us if-"

"I'll contact you with the news that I got the Diamond okay?"

Aerial sighed and watched as Silver took the Disaster Diamonds and smiled at everyone, "Thank you. And I hope you succeed in the tournament."

This caught the Chaos Riders and Babylon Rogues off guard, "WHAT TOURNAMENT?!"

"That didn't happen yet? I probably shouldn't tell you… eh, what the heck I'll tell you. Within five months there'll be an extreme gear tourney and everyone is invited. Even the Chaotix, Sonic, just about everyone is invited. But I'm not sure what exactly will happen within five months time and don't worry I'm entering it too."

"Well that's a shame. You're not going to get very far in it," Beacon stated proudly.

"Same ol' Pride trying to make it sound like we're the fastest thing alive."

"That title belongs to me!" Jet cheered happily.

Aerial raised an eye brow at this, "I thought that title belonged to Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Well after this tournament it won't!"

Silver watched as Aerial and Jet were at each other's throat and watched as their allies prevented them from starting a fist fight, even though Beacon was quick to throw a punch at Jet then hell yet again broke loose. The hedgehog watched as Clarity running alongside Dusk and stopped them before they could grab the attention of the arguing groups.

"Um hello?"

"Hello, I'm Silver the Hedgehog… and you're Clarity and Dusk right?"

"How'd you know that?" Dusk asked.

"I have connections… … um anyways. I would like you two to help me out with something."

The duo tilted their head and Dusk questioned, "Does it involve a single leek and many bombs?"

Silver blinked and shook his head, "Nah. It involves looking for a Diamond that looks like this," he replied as he showed the two Diamonds.

"Alright…"

"I would like you two to come with me to the future where you'll become the body guards of these Diamonds."

Dusk shook his head.

"I don't wanna."

Silver let that simple statement go as he looked at Clarity who shrugged, "Eh why not?"

The silver hedgehog looked at the albino hedgehog and looked sad, "So you won't help?"

"Nope!"

Instead of Silver looking defeated he smiled, "I can see where you're coming from. With you being in a relationship and all."

Dusk blinked.

"What relationship?"

"NEVER MIND!" Silver yelled quickly and he took Clarity's hand as he led her away from the confused Dusk.

Dusk watched everyone argue and suddenly remembered his deal with the Chaos Riders and did the only thing that anyone else would've done if they had to work against their will; he ran away from them as fast as he could. Where did he go? Who knows?

As everything unfolded with Silver, Clarity and Dusk departing from the bickering group that was no longer talking but now chanting for a fight, and with things seemingly turning back to normal one question remained in the back of everyone's mind.

Who would be the fastest thing alive after the tournament of the century?

**--**

**Okay so there's the end of the three part chapter of Diamond Mayhem. Alright so what could possibly happen with a tournament on the way, where exactly is the final Disaster Diamond… what the hell is going to happen within five months? You'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out. I hope you liked the chapter and please tell me what you think.**


	17. Theory of a Dead Man

Hey guys! Alright I think I kept you guys waiting long enough for the next chapter of Chaos Riders. As usual I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and please tell me what you think. Every review counts.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her usual OCs: Aerial the Hawk, Beacon/Pride the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, and Jack the Crow/Sparrow Hybrid. Also the newly added Aero the Albatross/Hawk Hybrid.

Here's chapter seventeen!

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen: Theory of a Dead Man**

Sometimes it takes a major event to make people ready to question reality as pieces rather than as a whole picture; or at least that's what Wave began to notice as five months slipped by in what seemed like a few days time. The swallow noticed how the tourney was just now a week away, everyone was in a hyper mood, one that might even rival against Charmy's sugar rush sprees. And within the hyper giddiness aura that was flooding the Babylon Rogues' Airship and everyone that now resided in it, she noticed two things.

One, everyone was way too chatty and disturbing her goal of making the Chaos Riders' skates and the Babylon Rogues' gears much faster than before. And two, Jet and Storm weren't part of the overwhelming atmosphere but were more like a pair of observers who were waiting to see the outcome of events for each day that passed. Sure the swallow noticed how everyone moved around quickly from Aerial's room to see how she was doing and if she needed anything to the other rooms to chat wildly about anything that crossed their minds; anyone could've noticed that from a mile away. But Wave knew when her comrades were troubled, and this was one of those situations.

It was toward the last day of the week when Wave would take matters into her own hands, when she would confront the duo about not being psyched about the tourney, how she would hit them over the head with her wrench and tell them to stop being such a downer just for the sake of everyone else's happiness. The swallow had planned this all in her head as she watched the duo walk out of sight and into a small room that Wave knew was the room where they kept the extreme gears.

Wave glanced around one last time at Beacon and Flame who seemed to talk about anything from Flame's latest travels to Beacon's little idea of having fun by pulling pranks on Jack. She rolled her eyes and walked out of the room and followed the duo from a few feet away.

The room she entered was small with hardly any space to move around in, or at least that's what it usually would be like. Now it was spacious as she realized that the extreme gears had been moved elsewhere and she blinked as she saw Jet and Storm pacing around like worried mothers might do if their children didn't return home on time. Wave felt slightly angered that the duo looked so worried, why would they be worried? Storm had Aerial to turn to and Jet had herself to turn to if anything were to happen…

"Jet d-did y-you come u-up with a-a-a th-th-theory?"

"What theory?" Wave had asked aloud. She then saw Storm and Jet's eyes fly over to her and she instantly felt like she was under a hot spotlight.

"W-w-what are y-y-you-"

Jet looked annoyed with Storm's stuttering and finished for him, "Doing here?"

"You guys are being all morbid over nothing! Come on! The tourney's tomorrow and we should be celebrating! We're going to win it!"

"We already celebrated, besides there's a question that's been bothering the both of us for a long time now."

Wave blinked; when did they celebrate? Let alone when did they start to pester over something as simple as a question, it was bound to have an easy answer. She put her hands on her hips and stared at the duo.

"And the question is?"

"You wouldn't know the answer to-"

"Try me. What is the question?"

Silence filled the spacious room and Wave took a moment to realize how large the room was without all the extreme gears in there. She saw the duo sitting down and she continued her intense staring at them, hoping that maybe they'd reveal what was on their mind. When Storm replied, she felt herself hit herself for not asking it earlier.

"H-H-How d-d-did A-Aerial surv-v-vive the f-fall?"

"What do you mean?"

"Wave, she fell from a long way up with a broken extreme gear, how did she survive the fall?" Jet asked.

The swallow blinked and sat down slowly and seemed to ponder, "…"

"That's what Storm and I have been doing, trying to figure out how she did it."

"Wouldn't it be easier to ask Aerial herself rather than just assume things?"

"We a-already t-tried that… d-don't you r-remember?"

Wave was about to ask when until it came back to her so suddenly. It was when they were playing Super Smash Bros Brawl with Aerial that Storm had asked that question; Aerial avoided the question and had answered with a non-related answer. She sighed as she nodded.

"So what theory exactly are you guys talking about?"

"We're talking about the theory of a dead man."

"Woman," Wave corrected Jet.

Jet rolled his eyes and he shrugged, "Does it really matter?"

No one answered and Jet cleared his throat, "I have an announcement… I have no theory today."

Storm looked shocked while Wave rolled her eyes and made a small gesture of boredom, "Who would've guessed."

"Like you have a theory of your own!"

Wave shrugged, "Well let's think for a moment rather than guessing randomly shall we? A broken extreme gear was all she had right? Now Storm, could she repair anything that was broken."

Storm shook his head and laughed, "A-Are you kidding?! Aerial w-was as s-skilled with r-repairing as J-Jet was. Not very."

Jet gave Storm a scowl as Wave blinked.

"Wait… she couldn't?"

"Not unless she gained the knowledge to, no," Jet replied. "Why?"

"I was thinking that if she was falling a long way down she'd have enough time to fix the extreme gear quickly then use that to save herself."

"That seems a b-bit insane."

Wave looked at Storm and noticed that he was the one that was the quietest out of the trio. She crossed her arms and glared at Storm. The albatross realized this and his eyes widened.

"W-What?"

"Why are you so quiet? Here's Jet and I spilling out our own theories and you have none?"

Storm shook his head quickly, "I-I-It's just t-that s-she couldn't h-have d-done anything l-l-like that."

"Well why not? That's what I would've done!"

"B-but that's y-you. A-Aerial… s-she was scared…"

Wave knew that that reply was coming but then again now that she thought about it, it did seem possible that maybe she would be scared too. However she wouldn't be so scared that she'd be petrified by the fall to do nothing.

"So what's your theory then?"

For a long moment Jet and Wave stared at Storm only to hear silence instead. Storm had often wondered about this as long as he realized that Aerial was still alive and he now was put on the spot to give his own theory of the dead avian that walked among them… figuratively of course.

Aerial was as alive as the Babylon Rogues were and this made him shiver. He was the only one who had seen the fall besides the person that had caused it to happen. He was emotionally scarred when it happened and he always believed that maybe he wouldn't ever get over it, but Jet came and helped him regain himself.

He finally shook his head, "I-I-I don't know…"

Wave groaned, "Come on! You have no idea?"

This shocked Wave as she blinked at her own statement and wondered what happened to her plan to dragging the duo out of the room and back to where everyone was talking happily and in high spirits. She shook the thought out of her head; she wanted to hear Storm's theory before she'd drag them back to the others.

Storm looked flustered the duo realized, and maybe he didn't want to talk about his theory. Maybe it was one of those ones that he thought would sound absolutely stupid with Wave around; then again that never stopped Storm from voicing his thoughts before.

"S-S-She g-got lucky…"

The duo blinked when they heard their comrade stutter that.

"Luck had nothing to do with it," Wave was the first to say her opinion, "Luck is just statistics! There's no such thing as getting that lucky."

Jet said nothing when Wave said that and he had to wonder what argument would ensue shortly after the trio would separate and go to bed.

"Then e-e-explain w-why w-w-we d-d-didn't hit t-the ground w-when we f-f-fell out t-then!"

Wave thought a while and remembered when Storm and Aerial were falling to what seemed like their untimely deaths only to stop about two feet off the ground thanks to Aerial's hoodie catching a branch. She blinked and looked thoughtful as she tried to think of something smart to answer that with. She couldn't think with that short statement going through her head and she seemed overly frustrated. She had to know!

She shot up from the ground and darted out of the room, leaving the duo in the dust of frustration.

"Hey Storm… whatever did happen that day she fell anyways?"

The albatross never really thought about the incident entirely, he never wanted to remember as saddening as that. He looked at Jet with slightly dull eyes and shook his head, "T-That's in the p-past."

"What happened that was so bad you can't even tell me?!" Jet shouted angrily. He was losing his patience with not knowing.

Storm didn't answer as he let his eyes travel to the floor and he stayed silent. Jet took in several deep breaths and was about to say to forget it, it probably wouldn't make a difference either way. But Storm started to whisper quietly and when Jet started to listen to his stuttering, he heard a story being told.

_---_

_Aerial was running, she looked absolutely scared; then again when you're young and playing a game of tag, being caught is like getting hit, you don't want it to happen. The hawk was running away from Jet and she was gasping as she was losing her breath._

_"I'm-gonna get you!"_

_"No-you're-not!" Aerial panted as she kept running forward until she slammed into Storm. "Alba run!"_

_Storm grabbed Aerial and pulled her away from Jet just as he dove to tackle her and hit the floor instead. The duo swiftly made their getaway with ease but a few minutes later they stopped inside of a room and leaned against the wall to catch their breath._

_"That-was close!"_

_"I-I-I didn't e-even know I-I was p-playing!"_

_Aerial shrugged and she looked around the room, "… w-what room is this?" she asked quietly just in case Jet was still looking for them._

_Storm took one glance and instantly he wanted to leave; it was the original Babylon Rogues' headquarters. It was where his dad and Jet's dad would meet up and plan their next act of thievery. And the one rule that was never to be broken was to never enter the room. _

_"W-We're n-not suppose t-to b-be here, l-let's g-go."_

_Aerial was young, still at the age if you told her not to do something then she would instantly do it. She smiled and walked into the room as she looked at the desk, at the chair that screamed "I'm in charge so listen to me", even at the pictures on his walls. The hawk smiled and seemed to be even more astonished that their headquarters looked as grand as it did here._

_"Can we stay? J-Just for a while, then we'll leave."_

_"N-no," Storm quickly said._

_The hawk walked over to the chair and sat down, earning a yelp coming from Storm. She rolled her eyes, "Come on Alba! Its fine, no one's here!"_

_For a moment, Storm believed what Aerial was saying… until he blacked out. When he snapped out of the black out, he was being dragged by Aerial and she looked completely terrified, as if Jet had found them._

_"W-wha-"_

_"Alba keep running!! Please run! He's going to kill us!"_

_"W-who? J-Jet?"_

_Aerial wouldn't say who was after them, but a few minutes later they were in the room where the event of Aerial falling out and Storm watching had occurred. _

_---_

"A-A-And-"

"I get it. So you have hardly any idea what happened then except something happened that scared Aerial."

Storm nodded and he sighed, "I-I thought y-you had found u-us…"

Jet looked slightly pale as he shook his head, "Sorry to say this, but when I couldn't find you I went to get lunch. I stopped looking for you and when I saw you after lunch you were in complete hysterias… hell I couldn't even understand what you were trying to say to me you were stuttering so much."

Storm blinked, "So… you weren't ch-chasing u-us?"

Jet shook his head and Storm paled as well; if Jet wasn't the cause of Aerial's fear, that they were running away for a completely different reason than playing tag, he wondered who were they running from.

The duo sat in silence until they heard a yell and a baby crying loudly. Storm looked surprised as Beacon ran into the room.

"Yo Alba! Get up and help us out!" he shouted anxiously as he literally began to drag Jet and Storm toward Aerial's room.

The room was busy with people crowding around Aerial but when they saw Storm and Jet they cleared out of the way and revealed Aerial holding a small bundle. Jet blinked and pressed questions at Beacon and the others as to why they hadn't gotten him as soon as Aerial was about to give birth, while Storm just stared at Aerial.

She looked up and instantly smiled, "Hey Alba. Come say hi to Aero. Aero Ace…"

Storm felt paralyzed as Wave suddenly shoved him forward, "Well go on!"

He walked over next to her and looked at the baby in her arms, and saw a huge resemblance to Storm himself as he saw the feather color and the eye color, but he saw Aerial with the green bangs and the style the feathers in general were in. Storm felt something deep, something that started in his heart and made him want to hug them both; was this a new instinct kicking in or was it because he was so happy to not worry about Aerial doing anything that might harm the kid in anyway.

Aero peered up at Storm and looked very thoughtful, but behind the thoughtfulness was a hyperactive appearance that made Storm think that this was going to be another Charmy Bee in the making.

"Whoa… Storm, he looks just like you!"

Storm knew that much but he wasn't thinking what Jet and Wave, along with the Chaos Riders were thinking; why did Aero look more like Storm when Storm wasn't the father?

Aerial smiled down at the baby; obviously she didn't care if her kid looked like the person that liked her one bit. Then she smiled at Storm. There were whispers and a few people left the room and left just Storm, Aerial and the child there in the room. Of course the trio could tell that everyone was on the other side of the closed door trying to make out any conversation that would begin.

"Isn't he adorable?"

Storm nodded and he felt happy to be alone with Aerial. He smiled at Aero and he got a small look in return.

"… Alba… um…"

He looked away from Aero and at Aerial who looked nervous. He saw her eyes glance at Storm then away, and this made him curious.

"Y-Yeah?"

Whatever Aerial was going to say, she never did say. She kept silent and then she quickly asked, "W-Would you like t-to hold Aero?"

Storm smiled as he was gently handed Aero. He cradled the child as carefully as he could and then saw that Aerial was fast asleep as soon as Storm held Aero. He chuckled quietly and whispered, "Let's leave mommy to r-rest for a w-while, how does t-that sound?"

Aero just blinked and Storm took that as a good enough answer. He walked toward the door and stopped when the door opened and Beacon and Flame were carrying a crib in.

"A crib?"

"For the baby. Just put little Aero in there and watch him for Aerial 'kay?"

Before Storm could give his reply to Flame's remark, the duo had left Storm and Aero alone with the sleeping hawk. He looked at Aero and saw him yawn widely. He sighed as he walked toward the crib and placed him in it gently and admired how Aero yawned widely and just fell asleep just like that.

The thought didn't occur to him for a long while, mainly because it didn't hit him as fast as it did the others that were probably in bed by now or just talking about how cute Aero looked and so forth. But when it did hit him he wanted to ask everyone else about it…

Did Aero look like him because of the Disaster Diamonds' affects?

---

**Okay guys, there's Chapter Seventeen for you faithful readers! So what do you guys think? I know it's a bit longer than the other chapters, or at least I think it is. But this chapter plays a good role in a future chapter that'll come up later. Anyways I hope you guys liked the chapter, please tell me what you guys think.**


	18. Team Up! Part One

Hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated this in a long time, so here I go updating it for you. Just a quick summary of what happened so far; Aero the Albatross/Hawk Hybrid was born, the Babylon Rogues tried to figure out how Aerial survived from a certain death, and they were just a week away from the Extreme Gear Tournament. Silver the Hedgehog and Clarity the Dove went into the future where they would look for the Final Disaster Diamond.

So there's that little quick recap. Anyways I hope you like the chapter and please tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her usual OCs: Aerial the Hawk, Aero the Albatross/Hawk Hybrid, Flame the Swallow, Beacon/Pride the Sparrow, Jack the Crow/Sparrow Hybrid, Clarity the Dove and Trill the Raven.

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen: Team Up! Part One**

The days kept slipping away as though they were just seconds passing on a clock; perhaps they were and no one realized it. Of course in the future, time always passed faster when you just came back from the past. At least that's what it felt like to Silver as his gold eyes glanced around the new future that was created after the destruction and termination of Iblis. Everything was right… there was no fiery destruction, no strange screams that never seemed to belong to anyone but those who got hurt by the monster that was created.

Alleys were the homes to the homeless if there were any, the walls decorated with graffiti of all kinds; buildings had risen from what used to be destroyed ruins and where Iblis once ruled over the future, was now a massive clock tower that read that it was sometime early in the morning. Silver grinned at everything; it was restored now that two of the Disaster Diamonds were no longer in the past to call upon destruction. In the midst of relishing this peace that seemed at ease when the sky started to shake the darkness away and reveal its true colors of light pink and lavender auras that proved how beautiful the world could be, a yawn was heard behind him.

Clarity had been patient all this time and it didn't seem to bother her at all that Silver was admiring the world that he came from, she thought it was so pretty.

"Oh I'm sorry… this is the future."

She smiled, "It's an amazing place, I can already tell at first glance and I haven't even explored it yet!"

Silver grinned at Clarity, glad that she liked it and as he held the Disaster Diamonds in his hands he said, "Ah right… you don't mind being a guard here right?"

"Why not? There's not much else I can do anyways so I find it something to improve myself… in a weird way I guess."

Silver smiled, "I'm glad you have no objections to it. Now if you'll follow me, I'll show you where you'll be guarding the Diamonds."

And that's what led the duo to walking in perfect unison toward their next destination; what used to be Angel Island. The floating island sometime in the future, fell to a strange fate and actually collided with what used to be the ocean near West Side Island and created a bridge between West Side Island and Christmas Island. The Master Emerald was taken by the many descendants of Knuckles to a safer location when people started to use Angel Island to get to places they usually would need a boat to get to. But since many people realized their careless actions made the Guardian and the Master Emerald go away, they stopped, hoping one day they'd come back. Of course when that didn't happen, Silver jumped at the opportunity to use it as a hide out for the Disaster Diamonds.

Angel Island was still massive, lush fields were being caressed by the wind of the ocean, making the blades of grass tickle those who came unprepared for the height of the fields. It had a more relaxed feel to it when they walked up the weathered and eroded stairs that once led to the Master Emerald only to see a massive boulder that looked like a hole was carved into it.

"Well… here it is!"

"A rock?" Clarity said slowly, blinking in confusion. "This is where I'm guarding them?"

"Nonsense, I wouldn't ask you to guard something so delicate in something like a boulder. We're not quite there yet."

Silver took the dove's hand and led her into the hole in the boulder and as soon as they were completely inside the large boulder that the ground started to shake.

"EEK!"

"It's okay," Silver reassured her, "We're heading there right now."

Clarity was confused, but not for long when she realized the floor below them was moving down, carrying the duo down almost as if it was an elevator of some sort. Cyan and lavender lights came into view when the floor stopped moving down and Silver helped the dove off of the platform. There were three tables, possibly for the Disaster Diamonds since Silver placed one on a table and the other on a different table.

"Welcome to Disaster Hideout," Silver said. "I'm sorry… you might have to live underground for a while, but it's the best we could do to make sure no one finds the Diamonds," he explained briefly.

She shook her head, "No… it's fine… just really shocking that's all."

The hedgehog grinned, "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you weren't going to mind this at all."

"Of course not. Why would I lie about something like that?"

Silver shrugged, "Not sure… listen… I need you to guard these with your life until I get back. The other Disaster Diamond is somewhere in the past and I need to find it."

"How do you know it's in the past and not somewhere here?"

"I know it's in the past because if it wasn't then the Extreme Gear Tournament wouldn't be happening."

Clarity tilted her head, "Really?"

He nodded with certainty. He knew it because he had been in that small part of the future to witness that it would turn up sometime during that period. Clarity smiled, "You can count on me Silver. Go on and find that Diamond."

"Thank you… take care."

"You too… be safe Silver."

The hedgehog nodded as he walked to the platform and it moved up, leaving the dove alone with the glowing gems.

**--- Meanwhile in the Chaos Riders' Airship ---**

What used to be seen as a happy occasion was now the headache of the Chaos Riders and the Babylon Rogues. Cries could be heard throughout the airship and sometimes pillows and closed doors didn't always block out the loud noises. Right now was that moment as they landed and were now waiting for the rules for the Tournament to be given to them.

Beacon and Jet were playing Super Smash Bros Brawl, beating each other into a pulp until the crying began.

"Don't even think about it."

"Think about what?" Jet asked.

Beacon paused the game just as Jet was about to destroy him with a hammer, "Yelling for the crying to stop."

The hawk rolled his eyes, "I wasn't going to."

"Oh good…"

Jet instead stood up on his chair and screamed, "MAKE IT STOP!!!"

Beacon sighed and took out Wave's wrench and sighed, "Wave will kill me but that's fine, you need to be hit!"

Jet yelped as he ran out of the room and into the room where Aerial, Storm and Aero were only to be in the vicinity where the crying would be the loudest. Beacon was smart and stayed behind, locking the door so Jet wouldn't t be able to get back in.

Aerial was trying to feed Aero while Storm held him.

"Did y-you h-have to y-yell Boss?" Storm asked, looking completely exhausted; it was apparent that he hadn't gotten any sleep since Aero was born.

"Way to freaking go Jet."

Jet was annoyed already by Aerial's slightly annoyed attitude toward him. He then said, "Why's the baby crying?"

"H-His name is-"

"I DON'T FREAKING CARE WHAT-"

_Whack_

Flame stood with a large broom in her hands and had used it to whack Jet as she entered the room. Her only reply to Jet's shocked face was, "Shut up, you're making things worse."

Jet regained his composure and asked, "Oh? Do you know how to make the brat be quiet?"

"As a matter of fact I've got the greatest idea of all time."

The metallic orange swallow walked over to where Storm and Aerial were and carefully lifted the crying Hybrid. She sighed as she lifted a small bottle of something that looked alcoholic and put a few drops in the formula that she happened to have and fed it to Aero. She saw the shocked expressions, "Look don't get the wrong impression… but if I do this then we all will get some sleep and won't lose the first round of the tournament."

"I hardly think that making the baby drunk is going to help us at all."

"Ace… relax. I've done it before, it won't kill him. Now sleep."

Jet blinked, "And how do you know about this trick?" he asked suspiciously.

Flame shivered, "Trust me, when you're babysitting for a friend and you don't do so well with kids, then this is your only option unless you don't want to hear anything for the next hour."

The hawk looked bored with Flame's story and looked at Aerial and Storm… which it was revealed that they were fast asleep, and soon Aero was too. Jet sighed and watched as the metallic orange swallow silently walked over to the crib and put the baby in it. That's when he had a thought.

"Hey Flame… how'd you meet Aerial?"

"Aerial? I've always known her."

"You were on the Main Airship?"

Flame shook her head and stated, "Not in the sense that I've physically met her. I just saw her skating and we entered in a mini tournament in West Side Island and won it. Ever since then we've been together."

"So this isn't your first tourney?"

"Of course it isn't my first! … Although embarrassingly it's my third tournament I've taken part in."

Jet sat down on a spare chair and yawned, "Boring."

"What about you? I'm guessing this is your hundredth tournament or what?"

The hawk shrugged, "It's one of many if that's what you mean."

Flame shook her head and stretched, the broom in her hands, "Whatever."

For a while there was nothing but the sound of Storm snoring abnormally loud and Aerial and Aero sleeping peacefully in the silence that lingered between the two. Jet honestly had no idea what to do or say since Flame gave such a direct answer. Oddly enough though Flame didn't seem like the other Chaos Riders who were always cheerful and always doing whatever they wanted; it seemed like Flame was the serious person of the foursome.

"Hey Flame?"

The swallow looked at the hawk, eyes watching him.

"What?"

"You're in this tourney right?"

"If you mean if I'm going to kick your ass in the first round then heck yea," Flame replied with a smirk.

If Jet was confused about what to say earlier with the silence, he was definitely stumped. Sure Flame gave a lighthearted statement but there was something behind it that made him think that maybe there was something more to it. He was about to give a smart aleck reply to it until the door opened to reveal Wave.

"Yo," Flame said as she gave a careless wave.

"Hi Flame," Wave replied as she held out the papers, "We've got a small problem… we need to split up into teams of three…"

Jet blinked, "What's wrong with that?"

Wave sighed and pointed to Storm who was holding Aerial in his sleeping state. All at once it made sense.

"Ooooh… crap."

Flame laughed, "So chances are he'll be on our team. Great!"

"He's on our's."

"Says you, but you're not the boss of him dude."

Jet frowned, not liking Flame telling him that and like a stubborn child he got up on the chair and said, "Oh yea? Who's the boss of the Babylon Rogues?"

Flame smirked, "What? A little child's the boss of something so big? No wonder you guys were horrible in the mission to get the gem from the museum."

A growl escaped from Jet, "I'll show you why I am the feared BOSS OF ALL OF MOBIUS!"

Wave facepalmed herself when the yell woke up Storm and Aerial who both yelped, which caused Aero to wake up. All at once they all ran to the crib and whispered their apologies hoping to not make the child cry. It was too late for that though as Aero began crying. Perhaps that was a sign of all that was to come out of this tournament. Maybe it was just a chance of bad luck for them when Jet yelled…

Whatever Aero's crying symbolized for anyone that was trying to murder Jet at the moment, Silver the Hedgehog knew exactly what it did. For a competition that was going to tear them all apart. Silver just stood in the distance, watching the airship with a worried look; he just hoped that what was to happen through this tournament didn't happen at all. But he wouldn't find out his answers by staring. He just walked away, a plan forming in his head.

**---**

**Okay guys here's chapter Eighteen of Chaos Riders! Sorry it's a bit free going at the moment, thing's will most likely go back to being serious in a bit. What exactly is Silver planning? Will Jet be murdered? … Why of all things does Aero's crying symbolize the events to come? … What teams will be formed? Please review and I'll try to update as soon as I can, but I can only do it if you help and review.**


	19. Team Up! Part Two

Hey guys! Alright it's been a while and I've kept you waiting long enough. Here's another chapter to Chaos Riders! I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her OCs: Flame the Swallow, Clarity the Dove, Aerial the Hawk, Jack the Crow/Sparrow Hybrid, Trill the Raven, Aero the Hawk/Albatross Hybrid, and Beacon/Pride the Sparrow. Dusk the Hedgehog belongs to Mariko-ai-chan (Mariko the Unemployed Ninja) for all eternity and I in no way own him.

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: Team Up! Part Two**

Fear doesn't materialize out of nothing, but out of everything; right now even Clarity found herself gaining the phobia of the darkness and dust as she paced around the Disaster Hideout. She covered her mouth as she coughed up more dust as she dared to breathe, and the darkness left her fearful if anyone would ambush her in this kind of state. The Disaster Hideout felt more like a suffocation chamber than anything else since dust was all that Clarity seemed to be choking on throughout the long hours since Silver left.

She sighed as she sat down, her white feathers covered in dust that lingered in the air like a lethal poison slowly making its way through its victims' veins. Clarity couldn't see anything in the darkness since the opening to the outside world closed and left her with no light. It really was no wonder she hadn't gained the phobia of the dark or dust yet. Despite these… unfortunate conditions, Clarity found herself getting used to the fact that it was her duty until the last Disaster Diamond was found to defend these gems.

Her blue eyes glanced around the dark shroud that she had gotten so used to and she leaned against where she believed the table would be… only to fall out of the chair from miscalculating. The dove let out a groan as she got up from the dusty floor and sat in the wooden chair.

"I know I'm supposed to defend these gems and what not but could it help if I had some light?" she asked to herself in a slightly irritated voice. This was rare for the dove who barely had a temper, but now she found her calm self dissolving into the dust and rising in a minor rage.

Clarity bowed her head, looking at her nearly visible shoes with annoyance. She folded her hands and wished that something would bring light down. When she heard the place shaking as though it was hit by a tremor and a beam of light appearing from the doorway she jumped to her feet. She felt excitement, maybe Silver was back! In this newfound excitement she walked toward the light but the figure that jumped down rang an all too familiar bell and she stumbled back from being kicked in the torso. Clarity coughed up more dust as she was kicked again and landed on the ground as she looked at her attacker.

Her sapphire eyes widened as she whispered, "Trill?!"

The raven laughed in a shrill voice as she replied, "Wonderful, you remember me. Grand. Now you'll pay for letting them take me. You'll pay for betraying me!"

Clarity looked at the Disaster Diamonds that faintly glowed now that Trill was near. The dove struggled to her feet and ran toward the Diamonds just as Trill grabbed her shirt and pulled her back.

"I don't think so! You play by my rules now or you die with the power of the Diamonds," Trill threatened.

Clarity stared at the Diamonds that she was so close to getting to. She actually felt scared, after all Trill probably could kill the dove easily compared to the dove who would always try to avoid anything death related if possible. As Trill walked past Clarity toward the Diamonds, the dove quickly found herself on her feet and tackling Trill who had just touched one of the Disaster Diamonds. The duo were struggling against each other, hoping to grab the Diamonds but all that seemed to halt as the Diamond that Trill touched glowed darkly. The two birds looked at the darkness that glowed in the already dark hideout.

Trill started laughing happily at this, but Clarity screamed as she felt something slam right through her.

---

The dove shrieked as she fell out of the wooden chair and onto the dusty ground. For a while the most Clarity could do was twitch on the ground and she held her knees against her chest as she just coughed and sneezed at the dust. Her eyes scanned the area, the Diamonds were still there, and everything was as it should be. There was no Trill here, only Clarity and the Diamonds. In what should've been a moment of relief, seemed to poke at Clarity in a different way as she stood up and picked up the Diamonds. She looked as they faintly glowed in the darkness and she looked toward the exit.

"I better go…" she said quietly as she sensed a foreshadowing moment. Swiftly and probably recklessly, Clarity ran out of the Disaster Hideout, away from the fear that had slowly probed her into performing this action.

**--- Meanwhile in the Present ---**

Perhaps it was a pure miracle that Aero had decided to fall back asleep rather than keep on crying… maybe it was a pure coincidence that Jet received a black eye from Flame and was forced to watch Aero and make sure the baby fell asleep again. Whatever the case might've been, all that mattered was that Aero was asleep, and Jet was silently sneaking out of Aerial's room where everyone had abandoned a long time ago.

The hallways were deserted as though the people that had earlier beaten Jet were just illusions, shadows that faded in with his own as he kept walking. There was no sign of anyone; at this he actually felt happy. It gave him enough time to think about what Flame said to him earlier.

Jet felt himself wondering who Storm would choose to be with; after all he was his best friend. But… what he said to Flame about the ordeal… it certainly didn't feel like he was his best friend, instead he felt like the person his father wanted him to be. He would never forget how everything he did on the main airship was because of his father's urgings, how when he wanted to just do what he wanted he couldn't. Even when Jet was frustrated and wanted to run away, he stayed because Storm was there.

"B-Boss?"

The hawk jumped in the air and swiftly turned around to see Storm looking nervous.

"O-oh… it's just you…"

"D-D-Did you e-expect s-someone else?" Storm asked.

Jet just shook his head, "Not really… listen can I ask you something?"

Storm tilted his head, looking confused as to what Jet would want to ask him and not Wave. The albatross just nodded though, "Sure."

"… If we hadn't met on the ship... erm…"

Storm blinked, noticing that Jet was hesitating with asking the question… this was out of character for him considering the fact that Jet was reckless and would do something stupid before realizing his error. Yet… he was hesitating.

"I-I-Is this a-about the t-tournament?" Storm questioned.

The hawk nodded, "Which team would you go with?"

"B-Boss I would be on your team."

Jet seemed slightly surprised, "What about… Aerial?"

"S-S-She has the o-others."

He just sighed with relief, all this time Jet hadn't even realized he was holding his breath until he released it. Jet smirked, "Well good! We need you on our team anyways!"

Storm chuckled, "W-What? You t-thought t-t-that I'd leave the B-Babylon Rogues?"

"For a second there I did."

Storm watched as Jet just started chuckling, glad that Storm was still on the Babylon Rogues' side rather than the Chaos Riders. The albatross wondered when Jet was like that; hesitant and searching for the right words… he recalled that Jet was like that back on the airship that they lived a few years with their parents and the other avian members there. Storm then realized that Jet was like that right before Aerial had fallen out of the airship. That's when Storm remembered something so small and insignificant that he had to think for a few minutes about it…

_--- Flashback ---_

_It was when Storm was being dragged by a scared Aerial, the last time they'd see each other, probably the last emotion they'd see from each other for years. Their footsteps were the only sound that echoed down the hallway and it sounded like a child frantically hitting a drum to keep up with a fast paced song; the lights were flickering as the airship hit turbulence, but the duo didn't pay attention to that, they just wanted to get away._

_The albatross recalled something out of character though. He remembered that game that Jet and Aerial were playing, the game he was dragged into. And all at once he remembered something grave… something that he couldn't believe he missed…_

_Aerial was crying by now, scared of their fate; Storm was looking around for a sign of what was making her cry… and he saw Jet watch from a hallway that branched from the one they were running in. He saw Jet watching them with dull blue eyes, Jet saw the horror on Aerial's face and he must've seen Storm looking scared as well. But Jet remained there, hidden in the shadows and he watched as they ran. He didn't do anything… he was there and could've prevented it… … yet…_

_He did nothing._

_--- End of Flashback ---_

Storm's face must've turned grim because Jet stopped chuckling and looked up at the albatross.

"Storm? Yo Storm!"

"W-W-What?"

Jet shook his head, "What's up? You weren't even paying attention to my remark!"

The albatross rubbed the back of his head, "S-S-Sorry Boss."

The hawk noticed the sadness in Storm's voice, and he took Storm's arm and started dragging him toward the kitchen, "Come on! We are celebrating with Wave and the others got it? We've got our teams and it's not a time to be sad!"

What Jet did brought more memories of when Aerial and Storm was on that airship; when Aerial tried to cheer up Storm with ice cream when his father had hit him… Storm smiled.

"Y-you got it B-Boss," Storm just simply said.

**---**

**There you have it another chapter of Chaos Riders. Don't worry, this chapter has a purpose… any guesses anyone? If you've got predictions about what's going to happen I would love to hear them. But anyways, I hope you guys like it… tell me what you guys think okay?**


	20. Doubts and Escapes

Hey guys! Alright so here's the next chapter to Chaos Riders. Sorry it took so long but here it is anyways, and as always I hope you enjoy it and please tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: Dark-Illusion-Detective does not own any of the Sonic Characters nor does she own Sega. She does however own her OCs: Clarity the Dove, Aerial the Hawk, Trill the Raven, Jack the Sparrow/Crow hybrid, Beacon/Pride the Sparrow, Flame the Swallow, and Aero the Albatross/Hawk Hybrid. Dusk the Hedgehog belongs to Mariko-ai-chan (Mariko the Unemployed Ninja) and will forever belong to her.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty: Doubts and Escapes**

Though time says that it will heal it, sorrow tends to linger in the cracks of memories, and someday it will leak through into the world where there will be no pity. While Jet offered a quick solution to the realization that Storm had just made, the albatross was far from being completely happy. Even now when everything was calm and he was in what he declared his room, Storm found himself unable to sleep unlike everyone who went to bed and fell asleep almost instantly from the recent excitement.

_He could've done something… yet… he did nothing._

Storm couldn't believe he hadn't even noticed Jet in that nearly hidden hallway before, hadn't even wondered what happened to the other person in the game that Aerial was in. Now he wished he didn't know that his best friend hadn't done anything. Storm fell back into his hammock as the thoughts circulated in his mind, confusing him and making his anger grow. Storm just closed his eyes, and just hoped that just like the sorrow in his heart; the anger would go away…

If only that was the case.

---

The light of the moon had never been such a relief; it provided hope, a way into the outside world. That small trace of a silvery light made everything appear better than it actually was; especially when the light was shinning in one of the rooms of the Westopolis Mental Asylum.

"Those fools… all of these idiots… all of them are fools," was the single statement heard throughout the empty, white hallways. There was no one around to listen to the supposed crazy remarks that a raven was making.

A shrill laugh echoed in the silence, shattering and piercing through the vile darkness that surrounded her as night seemed to be suck on pause, prolonging the inevitable sunrise. And the sinister footsteps began to be heard as the raven walked to the door. She smiled as she simply took out a key and unlocked the door. Carelessly she glanced behind her shoulder and saw the red pool of blood forming, a single dead body on the floor.

"This is what those fools will get for opposing me. I'll show them all… especially that traitor…" she said with a trill of laughter hanging on her every word. She opened the door casually as though nothing was out of ordinary and silently walked down the hallways, knowing that no one was around to stop her. She had a plan for everything; she knew the place as though it was imprinted on the back of her hands.

Of course, Trill knew exactly what she was doing. There was nothing to stop her.

---

To know that everything was in order was probably one of the greatest feelings in the world. But when that security of normalcy is threatened, disorder and chaos occurs. Silver the hedgehog was leaning against a tree, feeling lost in the past; of course he had been here numerous times, but for some reason this time it seemed to bring down a weight that couldn't be measured. His gold eyes were focused on the moon that was shining through the darkness of the night sky.

There were no need for words to describe what he was feeling; he knew he had failed somewhere. He sensed a death, sensed a sick, demented twist which would impact everything if the threat wasn't stopped immediately. Silver felt like he wasn't the right person to take on this task of protecting the past, and he felt a hint of doubt.

"S… Silver!"

The hedgehog was brought out of his negative thoughts to see a scared looking dove holding the Disaster Diamonds. He walked over to her, only out of shock of seeing her back in the present.

"What are you doing here Clarity?"

"Listen… I think Trill's after me. I don't know where she's going to come from but she's after me. She wants me dead."

It was almost instantly that the paranoia that the dove was experiencing trembled in her voice, and Silver even felt her fear hit him like a tidal wave. He hugged her, "Clarity… Trill's not here."

"B-B-But I saw her just a few seconds ago!"

This was new.

"Trill the raven? You saw her?"

Clarity nodded, "She saw me and went berserk! I swear she'll kill me if she finds me again!"

Silver's mind was now on overdrive from the stress of the situation. He was seriously fearful of what was going to happen.

"Are you sure?" Silver asked doubtfully. He knew that Trill was placed in an asylum in Westopolis, apparently one of the hardest ones to perform an escape.

The dove looked paranoid as she questioned, "You don't believe me?"

"No I do… it's just… no… you shouldn't be here. With the Disaster Diamonds back in the past then the future can be corrupted."

Clarity frowned, her blue eyes filling with tears, "What do we do?"

Silver sighed, "I don't know but I recommend you going so that way-"

"I don't walk in on your conversation and destroy you?" the sinister voice finished for Silver.

It took no time. Only a mere second for the duo to turn around and see Trill launch a massive explosive attack at the duo. Clarity screamed, and Silver just closed his eyes, scared to feel dead, lose the weight of the world, the one that had made him so determined before… but then… something unexpected and unplanned happened.

---

**Okay guys, here's Chapter Twenty of Chaos Riders. I'm sorry it's so short but it took such a long time to break through my writers block. Actually I struggled with this for a long time just to think how it would work out. So… my question to you all is what do you think happened that was unexpected? I want to hear from you guys more often. Please tell me what you think, everything counts.**


End file.
